The Bureau Files: Series 1
by Catsafari
Summary: Ten years later, Haru finds herself dragged back into the world of Creations, catastrophes, and one dapper-looking cat. Episode 12: The Beastly Man. (Part 12) (12/14)
1. For the Birds (Part 1)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**A/N: ****Ever since first seeing _The Cat Returns_, I've been dying to write a series of stories that explores the other cases that the Bureau has covered. Finally, the idea has taken shape and yielded... this. **

**In this, I am trying out a completely new format; it isn't a single story at all, but takes the form of seven episodic, short stories over fourteen chapters, brought together over a story arc. Each story in this series/season is based around a classic story, film or mythology that will be noted at the end, along with a teaser for the next 'episode'. Think of this as a TV series with seven two-parter stories. **

**Well, I promised you something New, didn't I? That said, after writing this, YC posted her _To Know Oneself_ 'fic, which is noticeably episodic, so perhaps this isn't as new as it was when I first wrote it. Regardless, this is the first self-proclaimed _The Cat Returns_ 'Series'. I will pride myself on that.**

**This is _The Bureau Files_. Enjoy. **

**Simply Cat.**

**ooOoo**

**Episode 1: For the Birds (Part 1)**

The Paradise Pet Store was a quaint little shop located just off the Crossroads; it was a building that the brunette had passed by many times before but, until now, had never entered. Upon stepping inside, the air became alive with the trill and twitter of the birds, off-set only by the background rumble of the machines keeping the tanks clean. She eased the door shut behind her, whereupon the bell situated above the entrance jangled and added its merry chiming to the birdsong.

The young woman peered into the heart of the shop and, while the room was alive with the animals, it was otherwise devoid of human life.

"Hello?" Her voice was swallowed up by the animals. She tried again, louder this time. "Hello?"

"Hello!"

The woman jumped out of her skin, laughing hesitantly when the source of the greeting was seen to come from a bright yellow cockatiel. She approached the desk, drawling alongside the spirited creature. "Hello."

"Hello. Hello! Hel-lo..."

The brunette giggled and the bird added its contribution with a whistling noise that sounded rather like a laugh. "Very charming, I'm sure."

Another whistle, this time followed by an imitation of the counter bell. Another whistle. However, this time it was quickly tracked by a very human voice from the store room.

"Give it up, Tippi! Nobody's listening!" A man appeared from the room, his arms preoccupied with a large box which hid his face from view, and making his way in the general direction of the desk. He stopped by the counter to glare at the cockatiel. "At this rate, you'll be next Sunday's roast."

The creature whistled but quickly quietened down.

Peering from around the side of the box, the young man spotted the brunette; his dark eyes widened and his grip slipped. The brunette jumped forward to catch it before it fell.

"Careful, you nearly–"

"I'm so sorry–"

The two paused and then both chuckled nervously. The man took the box back and steadied it onto the shop counter. He offered a hand. "Michael Banner."

She took it. "Haru Yoshioka."

"I really am sorry for that – the cockatiel, you see..." He gestured lightly to the bird which, to Haru's eye, seemed much too pleased with itself. As if to prove his point, the creature indulged in imitating the phone and Michael was already reaching for the desk by the time he realised the trick. The bird received another glare, which it obliviously ignored. "See what I mean?"

Haru only laughed again and waved his apology away. "No explanation needed," she assured. "I can see she is quite the troublemaker."

"Thank you. Anyway, Miss Haru, what can I help you with?"

"Well, truth be told, I was rather hoping I could be of help." The young woman waved in the direction of the door, where a _Help Wanted_ sign was hung. "If you get my meaning."

"Ah, of course. Well, really my grandfather owns the shop, so the person you really should be talking to is him, but..." He shrugged, a warm smile directed to the brunette. "Considering the lack of applicants we've received, I'd say you stand a pretty good chance."

"And when you say lack?" Haru prompted.

"I mean complete and utter absence of hopeful employees," the man laughed. "My grandfather will probably want to give you a trial period – he's not in at the moment, but perhaps you could leave some contact details and we'll get in touch with you as soon as possible?"

"Sure thing."

Michael began searching for some paper and pen, but soon realised the disarray of the desk made the task significantly more formable than it first appeared. That same warm smile was directed to the young woman. "Bear with me for a moment..."

Haru retrieved her diary from her bag, quickly followed by a biro. "There's really no need. Would my phone number suffice?"

"I would expect so." Michael laughed again, more than just a little embarrassed by the mess. He started to move the box to give some room for Haru to write, but at that point she intervened.

"Really, there's no need," she insisted, for the second time that minute. "I'll just perch on the side..." In this case, _perching on the side_ consisted of balancing precariously along the edge of the counter, scribbling down her details in increasingly illegible print. She grinned to Michael. "Well, we've barely met and, here I am, giving a complete stranger my number." She finished writing and tore the bottom of the diary page out. "You'd think I know better."

"Oh, I'm not that strange."

"It all depends on your perception of normality." She handed him the ripped page. "How soon will I hear from you?"

"As soon as the old man gets back, I expect. Tonight, probably."

"I'll be waiting." Her phone decided to pick that particular moment to ring, which quickly set off Tippi into a case of mimicry which resulted in the ringing lasting long after she answered her phone. "Would you excuse me?"

Michael only shrugged and tucked the phone number into the desk. "Go ahead. I think we're finished here."

Haru nodded a quick thanks and, hoisting her bag back onto her shoulder, headed in the direction of the door. She was talking before she was halfway there. "Yes, Hiromi, it's me – well, who else did you think it would be? Why would it be the police?" She paused, then laughed. "I can only conclude you watch too much, Hiromi..."

Michael grinned as he watched the brunette leave. Working at the shop was about to get a lot more interesting...

"And, no, it wouldn't be my boyfriend," Haru continued, quite oblivious to the attention she was receiving. It appeared that today Hiromi was in a particularly amused mood. "Why not? I'll tell you why not – I don't have a boyfriend." She opened the door and slipped outside. "No, not even a secret one."

"_If you did have a secret boyfriend, you wouldn't tell me though_," Hiromi chimed from the other end of the line. She sounded so pleased with herself that Haru couldn't help but think of the cockatiel she had just left behind. "_Therefore your argument is invalid_."

"Arguing with you is always invalid," Haru sighed.

"_Glad you agree_."

"I wasn't complimenting you, Hiromi."

"_I know. I just chose to take it that way. Because I am a good and lovely person with the temper of an angel_."

Haru bit back a laugh and paused as she came to the Crossroads. "You might need to check your halo then; I think it's slipped."

"_It hasn't slipped. It's just at a jaunty angle_."

Haru sighed and pulled the conversation somewhat back on track. "Hiromi, what are you calling about?"

"_Oh, I just thought I'd see how the job hunting is going for my best friend and flatmate-who-owes-half-the-rent. You find any leads?_"

"I have a potential offer from Paradise Pet Store so, yeah, I'd say it's looking up."

"_Oh, I've been in there..._"

Haru scoffed. "You? Please, you hate looking after animals."

"_I do not_."

"Liar. You looked after your cousins' stick insects for a day... and they _died_."

"Really–"

"They were _stick insects_, Hiromi. How do you kill stick insects?"

"_Meh. Hey, there was a cute-looking guy at the counter; why _wouldn't_ I investigate?"_

"You're appalling, you know that?"

"_And yet you still love me_."

"Only because you know too much. You're too dangerous as anything but my best friend. Even then, it's not a safe guarantee..."

"_I'm your best friend because I'm amazing and awesome and just too epic for words. Anyway, did you see the hot guy? Does he still work there?_"

"Well, there was a guy..."

"_Was he hot?_"

"I wasn't looking, Hiromi."

The lighter brunette made a noise that sounded very much like a raspberry. "_Phooey, you're no use. Guess I'll just have to come and see you working on the job so I can check him out myself. You will introduce us, right?_"

"Hiromi, I want my employers to think I'm a perfectly ordinary girl, not best friends with a lunatic."

"_Ouch. That hurt_."

Haru sighed and raised her eyes to the sky, almost, but not quite, rolling them. "Okay, there was a guy and he wasn't half bad-looking and I _may_ have flirted a little... Happy now?" She frowned and her attention became focused on something other than the phone call.

"_Delirious! All my bad influence hasn't been for nothing! Hey, Haru? You still there?_"

"Yeah..." Her brow furrowed further, but she didn't add anything to her friend. Instead she stared up at the mob of birds forming above. This wouldn't have been that remarkable – had it not been mixed species.

"_Haru?_" Hiromi's teasing tone had faded away into genuine worry. "_Is everything alright?_"

"I hope so..."

ooOoo

"Hiromi! We're out of milk!"

"Hm?" The lighter brunette flicked through a few more channels, attempting fruitlessly to get the hang of the various remotes. "Are we?"

"Yes!" Haru appeared into the lounge, a coat already half pulled on. "We're running low on bread too; I'll just head out and pick some up."

"No, I'll do it – you've been out all day job-hunting."

Haru shook her head and wandered over to her friend. "No, it's okay. Anyway, I'm halfway out the door already." She watched Hiromi struggle with the TV system for a few seconds longer before finally taking pity. "What are you trying to do?"

"There's meant to be a film on, but I can't get to the FreeSat channel..."

"Give it here." Haru leant over and picked up one of the lounging remotes as well as the one Hiromi held. She changed a few settings and, apparently miraculously, the opening credits appeared. "Happy?"

"Fantastic. You're one in a million, Haru."

"So everyone keeps telling me." Haru tossed the remote back to her friend and started buttoning up the coat. "Is there anything else I should know to pick up before I leave?"

"No, I think we're good."

"Are you sure?"

Hiromi leant her head back to look in Haru's general direction. "Haru, if there's anything I forgot to add to that list, I'll get it myself. Now go – before you start getting tea withdrawals."

Haru grinned at Hiromi's last comment and made her way to the door. "I'll be back in ten minutes."

Her friend waved vaguely, already absorbed by the film. "I'll send for the police if you're not."

"Glad to know you care."

The flat that the two women shared was one of many; all perfectly identical except for the touches of home that the occupants cared to add. All perfectly ordinary.

She liked that, she guessed. Ordinary wasn't too bad; it was certainly safe and mostly predictable. But she was still occasionally caught with her head in the clouds and her mind wandering, and whenever people asked, she would only smile and wave it away. "It's nothing," she would insist, and she tried to believe that. After all, what could come of dreaming back to a single day?

A single day, her head reminded her as she descended the stairs, that had shown her that life was far from the mundane run it was presented as – at least, it _could_ be far from mundane, if one only knew where to look. Unfortunately, Haru Yoshioka wasn't sure anymore whether she had the sight to see such things.

She reached the ground floor and made her way across the parking lot. She had stayed in contact with the Cat Bureau long after the Cat Kingdom adventure – for the two years during her sixth form years, and then less frequently in the holidays between university term time. And then, after that... she had moved to another town, another place, and somehow, without warning, she had left the Bureau behind. She had moved on.

It was five years since she had graduated and she had never thought she would come back to stay in the home of her upbringing, but then, one month ago, Hiromi had called. Hiromi Tomoko, who had been Haru's closest friend all the way through secondary school, had called with an offer for Haru to stay as her flatmate after her previous one had bailed out. And Haru, much to her own surprise, had agreed.

Haru shivered and tugged her coat collar around her neck. Spring was on its way but, in the meantime, they were being treated to temperamental winds and rain with the mood-swings of a teenager. She glanced up to check the weather, but instead her eyes trailed to the power lines above.

It would have been unnerving enough had the line been filled with just one species of bird – crows or sparrows; preferably some sort of flocking bird – but there, before her, stood crows, pigeons, thrushes, and even some form of falcon balanced on the wire. It sagged a little from the weight, and Haru entertained herself with the thought that if the falcon left, the rest of the birds would be pinged off. She smiled at the thought, but the amusement didn't last long.

The birds were watching her.

Whether this was paranoia or not, she regardless picked up her pace and hurried to the small co-op that bordered the edge of the road. She began to increase her speed until she ran into the shop and slammed the door behind her. She was gasping; she hadn't even realised until now.

"Are you okay, miss?"

"Fine," she gasped between wheezes. She looked up and saw that the store wasn't so sleepy she had been expecting. It was a modest family that ran the shop and by ten-to-ten in the evening the place usually had the lone customer idly browsing the aisle, at most. But today there were a couple of people, all drawn round the counter. More curious because anything would be better than mulling over the freak gathering of birds outside that out of actual curiosity, she approached the small crowd. "What's going on?"

On nearing, she saw that the attention had been attracted by an elderly man who was having his hand bandaged up. Haru winced.

"That doesn't look good. What happened?"

Some of the other onlookers rolled their eyes. "Don't ask, miss. You'll set him off again."

"I'm telling you! It really happened!" The man tried to gesture with his injured hand, only to have the shopkeeper grab it and continue bandaging it. "It was the birds!"

Haru's blood began to run cold. "I'm sorry?"

"The pigeons attacked me – I'm serious!" He had to shout to drown out the sniggers. "There's something wrong with the birds!"

"Yeah, yeah, old man, we believe you." Some of the younger men were still having trouble restraining their laughter. "Ooh – scary." Most burst out into full chortles. "What are a load of overgrown pigeons going to do? Peck us to death? Last I heard, old man, humans were smarter than any birds – well, most humans. I don't think we have anything to worry about–" The self-appointed leader grinned at his peers "–after all, the bird probably mistook you for a haddock–"

"I think that's quite enough, boys." The shopkeeper scowled and nodded his head in the direction of the door. "Go on, scat if you're not going to buy anything." He glared after them until the door had swung shut on the last one. He sighed and turned to the man he had been treated. "If you're okay to head out, I guess you should be heading home too. How is your hand?"

"Better, thank you." The elderly gentleman still looked rattled, but as he made his way towards the exit, he caught Haru's eye. Something in her gaze must have caught his attention, for he paused. "You believe me," he murmured, "don't you?"

Haru nodded. It was only afterwards that she realised she had been telling the truth.

There was something wrong with the birds.

And she didn't like it.

ooOoo

To Haru's eyes, it was darker when she left the little co-op; the air seemed colder, the wind sharper, and even the streetlamps seemed to give a weaker glow than before. All in all, she could safely say that the hair on the back of her neck was up and she had developed a well-established spreading of goose-bumps all the way down her arms during the walk back. If that was all she gained from it, she would have been relieved.

However, she had just reached the parking lot when something black and feathered swooped down. She felt the shadow approach and swung round just as searing pain shot along her shoulder. Her hand spasmed and she dropped the shopping bag; in the same moment she staggered and turned wildly in search for her assailant.

Her hand shot up to her shoulder and moistness met her fingers. She drew them away and in the dim glow of the streetlight saw the glimmer of blood.

Before she had time to process this, something came at her again. She ducked and threw back an elbow; she met a feathery body and received an angry caw for her pains. Still she couldn't make out exactly where or what was attacking her – only that it _was_. For here, in the middle of the parking lot, the nearest sources of light were the streetlamps bordering the road and the yellow glow of electric lighting from the block of flats; her attacker could move in the shadows and never been seen.

She sensed it come at her again, but this time her reactions had been too slow. She only had time to bring her arm before her face and the same searing pain ripped across her skin. She lashed out and, hitting the creature again, swung it far enough off course for it to swerve into the light.

Like the attacker from the man's story, it was a bird. A raven. She should have known.

She risked a quick glance to her arm. Three reddening scratches were drawn across her and already they were beginning to clot. She tenderly prodded the wound. Unsurprisingly, pain shot up her arm. "What in the world is going on?" she whispered.

The crow came again, but this time Haru was quicker. She grabbed the bag she had previously dropped and, using the weight of it to give her momentum, smashed it into the creature. The plastic bag split open and the milk smacked into the raven. There was the crack of the carton breaking and suddenly the bird was covered in white and was half-buried in the bag, struggling to escape from its plastic prison. Haru released the bag and sprinted in the direction of the building.

She was nearly there when there was the cry of something behind her... Something huge. She glanced behind her and suddenly her feet had forgotten how to run.

She had seen the bird before, but had initially dismissed it as a falcon. But this... this was no falcon. While its appearance suggested it to be an eagle, the wingspan of this monster was at least three metres... And its talons... The curving, black, huge talons were heading straight for her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she should run – anyone would run; why wasn't she running? – but nothing moved. She merely stared, somehow captivated by the gleaming talons that were bearing down on her, that were going to rip into her, tear her to shreds.

That were surely going to kill her.

And then something small – _tiny_ in comparison to this leviathan – collided with the monster's chest. Haru only had time to register the presence of black feathers and blacker-yet beak before eagle struck back and it became a blur.

"Run, Haru!"

Whether the voice had been imagined or not didn't matter; Haru's feet finally broke their strike and started her in the direction of the block. She didn't look back – she couldn't, she had precious few seconds head start and any moment now the creature was going to catch her – but she knew it wasn't far behind. If she looked again... If she became frozen by her own fear and impending death... well, she didn't want to think about that.

She came within yards of the building's door, and in the windows she could see the huge reflection of the beast behind her. It was so close; she could nearly feel its claws upon her skin...

Then the same cannonball of feathers struck the monster and it was slowed long enough for Haru's fingers to curl around the door handle, wrench it open, and slam it solidly behind her.

There she leant against the door, her heart in her mouth and her ears pounding with the rush of blood. Alive. She was _alive_. Despite her breathlessness, she cracked a small smile between her gasps. For a few seconds there, she had actually thought... and she would have... had it not been for her helper...

Her thoughts, congealed by adrenaline, were so jumbled that she struggled to make sense of them. She only knew that some form of terrifying bird had nearly killed her and that she had only been saved by the appearance of another bird... While it had been black, it had not been the raven from earlier – it had been smaller than that, and it had been on her side.

And... had it... talked?

She shook her head. She had only ever met one bird that had talked – truly talked – and that hadn't been a real bird at all, but a Creation. But... it had been black. Toto had been black. Maybe...

She shook her head again, knowing she couldn't make assumptions on such lousy evidence. But... she couldn't dismiss the thought. Perhaps it really would be worth dropping in on the Bureau again. After all, they might know something.

Something about the birds.

ooOoo

When Hiromi heard the slam of the door she leant her head back over the edge of the sofa and muted the TV. She surveyed her tired friend. "You took your time. Hey, where's the milk?" Now her eyes picked out other discrepancies, but they rested heaviest on the lines of red streaked across Haru's arm. She was up like a shot. "Haru? Hey, what happened? Why are you bleeding? You didn't–"

"Please, can you just help me clean it up first?" Haru hadn't realised it before, but she was now shivering. Effects of the adrenaline leaving her system, she supposed. The shock was also beginning to make her exhausted; she wanted nothing more than to curl up and collapse. But, knowing her friend was unlikely to let her do that without an explanation and first aid, she shuffled her way to the lounge sofa.

"Um, sure... I think we have some bandages and disinfectant in the bathroom cabinet, so if you just sit here, I'll go and fetch them..." Hiromi glanced back to the wounds and was about to open her mouth to comment when she decided against it – at least until the injuries had been tended to.

She came back with the whole box of first aid, which she dumped right onto the low coffee table. "Do you need anything to drink?"

"If we had any milk, I'd ask for tea..."

Hiromi smiled sympathetically and began to sift through the tin. "Funnily enough, I was thinking of something stronger..."

"All I want to do is sleep, Hiromi..." To prove her point, Haru bit back a yawn and resisted sinking further into the aged settee. "I'm fine, really I am."

"You come back with scars as long as your hand and you wonder why I don't believe you." Hiromi rolled her eyes and finally located the disinfectant. "Keep still – this is going to sting, I'm afraid."

Haru tensed, her hand clenching into a fist when Hiromi applied the antiseptic cream. It was nothing compared to the pain upon receiving the scratches, but the reaction came all the same.

"These don't look like just a fall, Haru..." the lighter brunette started slowly. She turned her attention from Haru's arm to her face. "In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say some bird did these. What have you been doing, Haru?"

"Nothing, I was just walking." Haru winced again at the sting, her breath abruptly coming out between clenched teeth. "The birds... There's something wrong with the birds, Hiromi. They just attacked me... Just out of the blue, like that."

Hiromi dropped her attention onto the task of applying bandages, but her silence was uncanny. Eventually she ventured with, "You're right; birds don't just attack for no reason, but what other explanation is there? Why now? Why would they change now?"

Haru was about to answer when the TV captured her eye. "Hiromi, I thought you were watching a film?"

"Hm?" Hiromi glanced behind her to the screen. "I was, but it breaks in the middle for the ten o'clock news. Why? Is there something wrong?"

Wordlessly, Haru leant forward with her uninjured arm and turned the sound back on.

"–_and reports today have been flooding in of bird attacks in the local area. Uniquely, this strange behaviour doesn't appear to be restricted to species, as crows, pigeons, and even sparrows have allegedly turned aggressive. Rumours are spreading that this is a new form of rabies, specifically focused on avian wildlife and while scientists have assured us that there is no reason for panic, people injured by unusually aggressive birds are advised to check with their local doctor–"_

Haru switched the TV off. There was a long silence.

Hiromi looked back to Haru. "Do you think it's really rabies?"

Haru thought back to the monster. If it was rabies, then it was unlike any kind of rabies she had ever heard of. And there had been something... different in the eyes of the bird. Not just madness or aggression, but... cruelty. Hatred. Was it even possible to see those kind of emotions in the eyes of a bird?

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know." Haru flexed the hand of her injured arm and almost smiled when she found the pain bearable. "But I'm going to find out."

ooOoo

Haru stopped by the Crossroads the next morning, but there was no fat cat claiming any of the chairs that day. It worried her, and not in a way she could easily brush off. Muta was nearly always at the Crossroads – she had often felt this was more because of the scrounging possibilities and less about leading potential clients to the Bureau – and when he was absent, it was usually due to a case. If the case was the issue at hand, then that meant that something terrible really was going on... and if it was another case entirely then... well, it meant that they weren't here to help.

She wasn't sure which worried her more.

She stopped by the same table that she had first found Muta at, all those years ago. Thinking about the time that had passed made her feel old... especially when considering Baron and Toto's immortal, never-aging statuses. Of course, Muta would be old by now – if he wasn't dead already. Haru felt hollow at the thought. That would explain his absence, but somewhere inside her, Haru couldn't come to believe it. Muta, she had always felt, wasn't the kind of cat to simply die. He was too stubborn.

She stared down at the table and chairs, as if willing Muta to appear would bring him about. But the chair remained frustratingly empty and Haru realised that if she wanted to find the Refuge, and the Bureau that lay inside, then she would have to make her way alone. She had done so many times, but that had been five years ago, at least. Time had passed and eroded her memory and her head wasn't so sure which way was the right one.

Luckily, her heart chose this moment to intervene. Suddenly, inexplicably, she found herself walking away from the table and heading out of the Crossroads. She detoured from the main road and disappeared down an alleyway; before she had even realised exactly what she was doing, she was leaping up a series of low ledges and landing on a tin roof. She was running now, clambering over a fence and still running as she careened her way along a thin wooden beam. In her mind's eye, she could see the image of Muta leading her along this merry chase even as she hastily apologised for her earlier words.

Now she was along another familiar alleyway and she was sprinting. Her heart knew this way, even if her mind no longer did, and suddenly, in a strange wave of nostalgia, she felt like she was coming home.

She skidded to a halt when the alleyway opened out – and before she even looked, she knew she would see the archway of the Refuge to her right. Her breathing slowed even as adrenaline shot through her system. The strange combination made her giddy. She approached the archway and, although from her angle she could not see the Bureau yet, she paused. Her hand rested against the ancient stonework and she drew support from its steady sureness.

It was at that point that she remembered exactly why she was finding the Bureau – this wasn't just a courtesy call; this was a quest for answers. Answers, she hoped, that the Bureau would be able to provide. But, most of all, she hoped they would provide the greatest thing she lacked right now.

A solution.

So, picking up her head and trusting her heart, she took the final steps into the Refuge.

**ooOoo**

**Teaser: **_**"Welcome, Miss Haru, to the Bird Kingdom." / He looked up, his eyes trailing to the shop and now his eyes froze. Long clawmarks rang along the open door. "HARU!" / "You know he's not going to be able to out-run that monster. He's not going to make it." **_


	2. For the Birds (Part 2)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 2: For the Birds (Part 2)**

Upon entering the Refuge, Haru found herself almost coming face to face with a large seagull of sorts. She ducked, moving just in time to avoid a face full of beak, while the Refuge itself was echoing the cries of "Catch it! Catch it!"

Haru turned back to the heart of the Refuge and ducked again – this time to avoid a flying Toto and Baron.

"Hey, watch it!" she shouted. She stared after the disappearing duo of birds – one hotly in pursuit of the other – before realising that there was a certain cat missing from the picture.

"Birdbrain! Overgrown chicken! I'll pluck you for my dinner! Hi, Chicky."

Haru looked down and, sure enough, there was the round figure of Muta standing beside her. She grinned; she hadn't seen them for years; how could this possibly feel normal? And yet it did. "Morning, Muta. Average day?"

The fat cat – for he was still as round as ever – grunted and started back to his seat outside the Bureau. "Pretty much." He was wheezing slightly; Haru got the impression they had been chasing the seagull round the Refuge for a while before it fled. "Long time, no see, huh? You look the same."

Haru looked down at herself. She supposed she did. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you." She watched him collapse onto the chair. "I don't mean to sound morbid, but aren't you getting a little old for this now?"

"Creation magic, Chicky." Muta waved her comment idly away. "This place is full of the stuff."

"Well, if that's the case, then what exactly are you doing here?" Haru glanced up to the sky, but there was still no sign of Toto or Baron. "Shouldn't you be helping the others?"

"This is Birdbrain's territory, not mine. I don't see what kinda use I'd be anyway," he remarked gruffly, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes. "It's not like I have wings."

"You still could help?"

"What, by running around fruitlessly below? Thanks, but no thanks." Muta eased one eye open. "What are you doing here anyway? You haven't been poking your nose in other people's business again, have you? 'Cause we've got bigger problems right now than royal engagements."

"Yes, I can see that. And no, I'm not in trouble; I just wanted answers. Well..." Haru paused and again looked to the empty sky. Where were they? "At least, I hope not. But if the Bureau is investigating the recent incidents with the birds, then perhaps we're all in trouble."

Muta grunted again, but didn't offer any advice in that department.

"What were you trying to do back there? What was the deal with the seagull?"

"Oh, that." Muta made a noise that indicated this was just another plan that had gone wrong. "We tried to stun one of the chickens in order to get a better look at them. Only problem is, the creatures seem to be a lot hardier than your average feather-brains. It woke up before we had a chance and now Baron and Birdbrain are trying to get it back."

"You think we should just wait here until they get back?"

"Considering that they could be halfway across town by now, I think it's a very good idea."

Haru thought this through and then, reassured that she couldn't have done very much by chasing after them anyway, sat down against the archway of the Refuge. The long coat she wore hitched up at her elbows, the sleeves pulled up to reveal the bandages around her right arm. Muta wasn't as indifferent as he was trying to be, for his breath caught.

"Hey, Chicky, where did you do that?"

So much had happened since then that Haru took several seconds to register just what the fat feline was referring to. She glanced down and laughed, still tugging the coat sleeve back over the bandages. "Aw, Muta, so you _do_ care." When all she received was a scowl, she added "Close encounter of the feathery kind. It would have been a lot worse if Toto hadn't intervened."

Muta grunted again, apparently not impressed with the praise attributed to his companion. He looked like he wasn't going to add anything when his eyes focused on something or someone behind Haru. "Hey, Birdbrain, looks like you just weren't quick enough."

Toto landed in the middle of the Refuge and glared at the white cat. "No thanks to you, pudding-breath. Honestly, I've seen you run faster to dinner than you did back there."

"Oh, really? Well, in case your beady little eyes missed it, I don't have wings, so how do you propose I catch it, huh?"

Toto sniggered as Baron slipped off him and onto the paved courtyard. "Even if you did have wings, a giant marshmallow like you would never be able to get off the ground."

"Alright, that is quite enough. Look, we may have failed this time, but that certainly doesn't mean we have time to relax." Baron stepped between the bickering duo, his actions quickly quietening the pair. "The attacks are getting worse and it is up to us to get to the heart of this before..."

"Before some bird gets to the heart of some_one_," Muta chortled.

"Muta, you really are a disgrace." Toto was about to continue cawing his disapproval when he spotted their guest. He hopped round to face her, nudging Baron in the process. "Baron, it looks like we have a visitor."

Baron turned on the spot and when he saw the young brunette, he smiled and approached. Haru felt that if she had not already been sitting, her legs might have buckled – just like the first time. He offered one tiny gloved hand. "Indeed. I believe we have met before, Miss Haru."

She was grinning back like an idiot, but she couldn't stop. She took his hand between her thumb and forefinger and carefully shook it. "Hello, Baron."

"What brings you here on such a grey spring day?"

"She wants answers!" Muta called from his chair.

"He wasn't asking you, butterball."

Haru smiled lightly as the antics of the Bureau brought back familiar memories from all those years ago. "I guess I did come looking for answers. I was hoping that you could tell me something about the recent bird attacks."

"Ah, yes; Toto informed me that you were targeted by the creatures."

"Oh, yes." Of course, the crow Creation would pass the story onto Baron – he must have known she was in town following the attack. Haru bowed her head quickly and gratefully in Toto's direction. "Thank you for saving me, Toto."

"It was no problem, Haru."

"But what was that monster?" She looked between all three of the Bureau members now, searching for one of them to give her the answers she so desperately craved. "What is going on?"

"That, Miss Haru, is what we are trying to find out."

"We think that it's only a small group of specific birds that are attacking people," Toto told her. "The usual wildlife doesn't seem affected, so we suspect that it's nothing contagious."

"You think the birds came from somewhere else?" Haru asked.

"We believe so."

"Where?"

"The Bird Kingdom, Chicky, where else?"

"So now what are you going to do?"

"Now, Miss Haru," Baron said as he began setting something up beneath the arch to the left, "we are going to the Bird Kingdom. Like you, we are eager to find an explanation for these attacks and, more importantly, discover what can be done to prevent them."

Haru rose to her feet and wandered over to Baron, watching his careful actions from the side. The arch was one that Haru had never really taken notice of before and probably wouldn't have at all, had Baron not moved there. This was a smaller archway than the one she had entered through, and was built in aging, grey stone. Baron was kneeling beneath the stone archway, busy inserting a blue semi-precious-looking gem into the paved ground. As Haru leant in for a better look, she saw that there was a gap in the cobbles as if made for just such a use.

"What are you doing?"

"In order to reach the Bird Kingdom, we are going to need a portal, much like the one used to transport us to the Cat Kingdom," Baron calmly explained. "King Lune was kind enough to lend us this interworld portal shard to enable travel from the Refuge to the Cat Kingdom, but it should be able to take us to the Bird Kingdom also." Baron looked back to the stone gargoyle. "Toto, what is the sign for the Bird Kingdom?"

"Sideways V, drawn by the thumb and index finger coming together," Toto answered.

"Thank you."

"What is that about?"

"For each world," Baron said, carefully following through Toto's instructions, "you need to draw a different sign on the shard for the portal to form. There could be many worlds that we don't know the sign for, so we'll never find."

"How exciting."

"Hey, Chicky; you're gonna want to stand back," Muta called. "That is, unless you like the sound of turning into a birdbrain!"

Haru stepped away from the archway – as did Baron – just as the space beneath the stone arch... rippled. It flickered and, although Haru could still see beyond it into the otherwise empty alleyway behind it, there was something... different now. As if she was looking at it through a midday haze.

"Entrancing, isn't it?"

Haru realised she had been staring and quickly dropped her gaze. "So... I suppose the Bird Kingdom has the same rules as the Cat Kingdom, right?"

"If you're referring to the fact that you will be permanently changed if you stay beyond tomorrow's dawn, then yes," Baron answered.

"Yeah... but dawn is a long way away..." Haru replied. She met the cat Creation's steady gaze, her eyes asking what her throat would not.

"What?" Muta could be heard to throw down his newspaper and storm over to the couple. "Baron, she's _not_ coming. Do you remember what happened the last time she went to a kingdom?"

"Are the royal family fans of interspecies marriage?" Haru asked.

"No."

"Baron–"

Haru sent the fat cat a look that quietened even him down. "Please," she said. "Just this time, just this once. I'd just like another chance of adventure, just like before."

"You understand that if the Bird Kingdom is responsible for what's happening here, we could be walking into danger?" Baron queried, calmly ignoring the many faces that Muta was pulling in the background. "I cannot guarantee your safety."

"Understood. Don't worry, Baron; I can take care of myself."

"What about the _turning-into-a-birdbrain_ problem?" Muta blurted out. If he had hair, Haru felt he would be pulling it out. As things were, he had to content himself with running stressed claws through his short fur. "We didn't bust you out of the Cat Kingdom just so you could join Beaky over there!"

"I have the portal set for three hours, Muta," Baron curtly informed him. "Given how the situation is swiftly moving here, I feel that staying in the Bird Kingdom until dawn would be disastrous for all of us, even without the kingdom's magic affecting Haru. In short, we need to get to and from the Bird Kingdom in as short a time as possible. Who knows what could have happened here in three hours alone?"

"Baron, do you want me to stay behind?" Toto asked. "One of us should stay in this world."

"No, Toto; I have a feeling we will need you in the Bird Kingdom. If Muta wishes to stay behind, however, then perhaps he is our best member to guard the portal."

Muta immediately began whining. "What? Baron–"

"Considering your species, Muta, it would probably be for the best," the wooden figurine interrupted, before Muta could get _too_ carried away with his complaints. "The birds of the kingdom will mostly likely view us as hostile if we have a feline in our ranks."

"What about you then, Baron?" Haru asked quietly.

"As a Creation, I pose no threat. At least, not in the same manner Muta does. Now, if we have quite finished, I believe it is time for us to get going. After you, Miss Haru..."

"Wait, so the human, non-member gets to go, but I have to stay?"

"There's some cake in the cupboard, Muta," Baron called back. "I'm sure that will be incentive enough?"

As Haru stepped through the portal, she heard the distinct sound of the Bureau doors being slammed open.

She guessed some things never changed...

ooOoo

Another thing, it would seem, that never changed would be the portal landings. This, she mused as she landed with a heavy thump upon something long and narrow. She stumbled a few dazed steps forward and suddenly found herself slipping.

Even as she released a scream, something grabbed her from behind and pulled her back onto... whatever it was she had been standing on. The arm moved around her shoulders, refusing to release her until she had properly calmed down.

"Careful, Miss Haru; that could have been a very nasty fall."

Haru didn't answer; she was still mentally spinning and trying to keep her stomach down. Her mind ran over the last few seconds; she had been standing, and then she hadn't, and for that split second of falling she had seen the ground at least a hundred feet away. Slowly she registered two facts. One: that they were in a tree of some sort and, two: that she was staring into a startlingly familiar red vest.

She gurgled some nonsense words and attempted to step back.

"Really, Miss Haru, you must be careful. The ground is a long way away."

"Much too far away," she readily agreed, pleased that she was finally able to articulate a whole sentence, instead of gargled garbage. It appeared that this world had shrunk her down to size; something, she supposed, that she should be grateful for after that near slip. She swallowed nervously and, reassured that Baron wasn't going to let her fall any time soon, peered gingerly at the world around her.

It was beautiful – just like the Cat Kingdom had been – and... _very_ high up. The latter part she thought with a nervous swallow. Giant trees branched out, sunlight filtering through their emerald leaves with a gentle green glow. In many of the trees were nests – as to be expected, she guessed – but there were also buildings nestled in the trees' branches. Huts, she saw, that were constructed entirely out of twigs and branches, just like their nest counterparts.

"Welcome, Miss Haru, to the Bird Kingdom."

It was at this point that she realised she had been silent for a good thirty seconds now and that Baron would soon be starting to wonder what on earth was wrong with her. "It's beautiful," she croaked. And she meant it. While she had no immediate love for heights when perilously perched on nothing but a branch, she couldn't deny that there was something... captivating in this world. Like the Cat Kingdom, it was comforting in a way that made one feel like they were coming home after a very long time away.

Of course, her mind added as she snuck a glance to Baron, the feeling might not be _entirely_ down to the Bird Kingdom...

"Baron, Haru–" Toto, who Haru hadn't even realised had flown off earlier until now, rested on a neighbouring branch "–I've located the Bird King's palace; if you climb onto my back, I can take you there."

"Have I ever mentioned how appalling I am at heights?" Haru tentatively asked as she and Baron edged their way along to Toto's branch.

"You're safe, Miss Haru," Baron assured. His hand slipped into hers and right now that little piece of extra support was enough to make her believe that she would be caught if needed. "Just trust me."

ooOoo

The Bird King's palace wasn't just in the trees, as Haru had expected. It was situated at the edge of a lake, where the reeds grew at least three metres high and were woven into rooms. In particular the palace centred around a tree that, on first glance, looked like a willow from the drooping leaves, but as Toto neared it became obvious that it was a hybrid plant of some sort. While it did possess the leaves of a willow, the branches were stronger and straighter, leaving the body of the tree to resemble an oak. Between the branches were more twig-houses, woven into the very fabric of the tree.

"I hate to say this, Baron," Haru whispered as they came down towards the lake where two swans were picturesquely gliding, "but that is _so_ much more awesome than the Cat Kingdom palace. I hope you're not offended."

"I'm not. Being a Creation, I'm not linked to the Kingdom anyway."

"Oh. Good." Haru watched the ground draw near and, even though her arms had been around Baron's chest for support anyway while on Toto, she tightened her grip into a hug. "Thank you, Baron."

He didn't turn to look at her, but he seemed surprised by her gratitude. "Whatever for, Miss Haru?"

"For bringing me here, even if it wasn't the wisest thing to do. This place... it's amazing."

He was silent and Haru began to wonder whether she regretted her outburst. But then he finally turned to meet her eye and smiled. "You're quite welcome, Miss Haru. Perhaps, if you so wished, you could join us another time. What do you say?"

Whatever Haru's answer was going to be, it was abruptly cut off when Toto made a rather rudimentary landing on the shores of the lake. "Sorry, Baron," Toto hastily apologised. "I'm somewhat unaccustomed to having double the weight on my back."

"It's fine, Toto. Nothing's hurt." Baron slipped off and offered a steadying hand to the brunette, who carefully followed after. "Now, do you have any idea as to where we might find the Bird King?"

"You mean that Bird King over there?"

Toto pointed to the pair of swans that Haru had spotted earlier. The two were making their graceful way in the direction of the newcomers, and now it could be seen that both wore slim, woven crowns upon their heads. Baron quickly turned on the spot and performed a humble bow. Haru followed hastily after. "Well," Haru lampshaded, "that was convenient."

"Your Majesties, we have travelled from the Human World in search of knowledge," Baron addressed to the monarchs. "In our home, birds have become aggressive and have turned on the local humans. We wish to know–"

"You wish to know whether our peaceful and idyllic kingdom has anything to do with such events," the Bird King finished smoothly.

Baron nodded mutely.

The Bird King thought this over and then slowly began gliding along the edge of the lake. The Cat Bureau followed silent beside, tracing his and his queen's route along the shoreline.

"There are many birds that come and go from this kingdom," he began, and his deep, calm voice carried such authority that even Muta would have been hushed during his talking, such as it were. It was certainly a far cry from the madness of the ex-Cat King. "It would be impossible to keep track of all the individuals that travel between the worlds. It is not in our nature to stay in one place. That said, we have heard no dissidence from our subjects and have no reason to believe that any would strike out. How long has this been going on?"

"Since yesterday, as far as we know, Your Majesties. The birds appear to be one select group and appear to be directly aiming to harm humans."

The swan monarch was silent for a few minutes more even while he continued his elegant glide along the water. "This... is not good. If humans come to fear us, then our kind will be persecuted in the Human World. The matter must be stopped."

"We understand, Your Majesties. We will do everything in our power to see that we bring an end to whatever is causing this. Are there any leads that we might investigate?"

"No, nothing that could help you, I'm afraid."

His Queen leaned her long neck and whispered something to the King. He nodded.

"My Queen reminds me that there is one lead that might yield results. A few months back, one of our patrols went missing while on the far side of the Kingdom; they disappeared and we only found a weak trace of portal magic."

"And you didn't call us in?"

The Bird King looked confused by the question. "It was a Bird Kingdom affair; it wasn't in the interest of the Cat Bureau. At the time, we waited, but now we have begun to wonder whether our patrol didn't disappear, but went rogue." He nodded to the strange willow tree that housed the upper palace. "You should talk to our archive bird, Cassandra; she can give you more information on the missing birds."

ooOoo

Cassandra, the archive bird, was, as the Bureau quickly discovered, a huge golden eagle. She was found in one of the largest rooms in the upper palace, where pigeon holes were filled with scrolls bound and tied with ribbon. Quite how birds wrote, Haru didn't have a clue, but after seeing the Cat hieroglyphics, she wasn't about to comment.

"Rogue? Is that what he said? They went _rogue_?"

Cassandra half-shuffled, half-flew as well as she could in the confined space, to a set of scrolls to the far side. Haru had never felt so small in her life; not even in the Cat Kingdom where the biggest individual was Muta. Cassandra was... about half the size of the monster bird she had almost been ripped apart by yesterday, but that was still huge. And, unfortunately for Haru, she appeared to have taken on the size of a sparrow.

"My Balthazar may have been a giant, but he was no rogue!" Cassandra cried.

"Did you know some of the birds, Miss Cassandra?" Baron asked politely, despite the eagle's hysterical nature.

"Know? Balthazar was my _mate_! He was the captain of his patrol; he would never just disappear like that, not without saying goodbye to me first or even leaving a reason! Kingdoms above, he's never even been late back from a patrol – no, I knew something was wrong the moment he didn't come back. Something happened; I can feel it in my primaries!" Cassandra stopped to wave the tips of her wing feathers in Baron's face. Baron didn't even flinch.

"Be that as it may, Miss Cassandra, we were hoping to see some identifying records for the missing patrol. Do you have them?"

"Yeah, yeah." Cassandra dumped the scroll onto the desk before the Bureau and shuffled away to return the spare scrolls lying about. "Here you go. Picture profiles of every missing bird from that patrol should be there; I should know, I filled out the records myself after they disappeared."

Baron opened up the scroll and spread it across the desk. Drawings lined in ink were meticulously sketched out, almost perfectly for art done without hands. The first portrait he picked out was one of a seagull. "Toto, you have a better eye for bird individuals than I do; would you say that is the gull we stunned?"

"The seagull is Skender," Cassandra called over her shoulder. "He's not the sharpest talon on the foot, but he's loyal. He'll be wherever Balthazar is."

"To be honest, Baron, that could be the same bird, but I can't be sure," Toto admitted.

Haru leant forward to get a better look at the portraits. Her breath hitched into her throat.

Baron snapped his gaze to her. "Haru? Miss Haru, what is it?"

"I think we can stop wondering," she answered slowly. She stretched her arm across the table and tapped on the picture of a very familiar eagle. "That was the creature that attacked me."

"Are you sure?"

Haru closed her eyes; the image of the monster bearing down on her played behind her shut eyelids. She shuddered and nodded. "Yes." She looked to the crow Creation standing in their midst. "Toto, what do you think? You fended it off for me; is that the same creature as before?"

"Most definitely."

Cassandra had come to inspect what their muttering was about, but at seeing the finger pointed at the eagle on the page, her feathers became instantly ruffled. "My Balthazar? You're saying he's a killer?"

"Maybe not yet, Miss Cassandra," Baron answered, smoothly rolling back up the scroll as he spoke, "but if something isn't done soon, I fear there _will_ be deaths."

"But–"

"Cassandra," Haru abruptly interrupted, "how big is Balthazar?"

"About half a wingspan wider," the female eagle answered. "Why?"

Haru turned to Baron. "I may be mistaken, but if I'm not then either the monster out there isn't Balthazar or something has changed him because I'm pretty certain – no, I'm certain – that what attacked me had at least a three metres wide wingspan."

Baron met her gaze and after all the jokes and humour from the Cat Bureau, the seriousness almost knocked the wind out of Haru. "Which of your explanations do you think is right?"

She swallowed nervously. She wasn't accustomed to so much faith being put in her judgement. She took a long, deep breath in. "I think it was the same bird," she said. "I think something has changed him."

Baron nodded, but he didn't try to contradict Haru's answer. "I was afraid you would say that."

"If I'm right..."

"If you're right then something is very wrong." He looked away. "Very wrong indeed..."

ooOoo

Getting back to the Human World wasn't as simple as Haru had perhaps hoped. Baron informed her that the portal would standing where they exited for the three hour time-limit he had set, so getting back to her world included navigating their way back to the same tree they had arrived at – which, when every tree looked the same and portals powered by Creation magic were transparent – was significantly easier said than done.

Regardless, they eventually got back and Haru – once again – found herself stumbling on re-entry. She hit the paving stones with a slam and gingerly rose to her feet.

"Ow – ow – ow – note to self, leave cushions outside portal – ow!"

Much to her annoyance, Toto smoothly flew out and Baron merely stepped through with as much dignity as he always possessed.

"Miss Haru, are you alright?"

"Fine. I think your portals disagree with me though."

"The portals take some getting used to, but you'll improve with time."

"So I will get to go with you guys again?" She grinned at the thought. Perhaps life didn't have to be so mundane after all.

"Of course, Miss Haru. After all, didn't I tell you that the Bureau's doors will always be open to you, be–"

"Be it day or night," Haru finished. She laughed, but there was the slightest prickle of pain. She also remembered what else had been said in that conversation – or what hadn't. "Yeah, I know. Hey, um, look, Baron, I just–"

Her phone went off.

Haru blushed and looked down. "Guess I better get that... Sorry, Baron." She turned away and clicked the answer button. "Hello?"

"_Hello? Is that Haru?_"

"Michael?"

There was the warm laugh from the other end of the line. "_Thank goodness – I've been trying to get in touch all this morning to see if you received my text yesterday – but it kept saying your phone was out of range. Where were you?_"

"Just... out." Haru resisted the temptation to glance back to Baron.

"_Well, never mind. Hey, did you get my text?_"

Life had been so hectic after the bird attack yesterday that she had completely forgotten to check her phone until now. She had a sinking suspicion she would find at least one un-opened text. "Um..."

Again, Michael laughed. "_Alright, evidently not. My grandfather said that he'd be happy for you to start your test trial today, so if you want to head down sometime soon–_"

"Yeah, no, I'd be happy to." Haru resisted punching the air for joy, if only because of Baron's watching eyes. "I mean, I could head straight there – it's about five minutes from here, so if you want..."

"_Great! I'll see you in five then_."

"Yeah, okay..." Ending the call, she turned lightly on her heels to the Bureau. "Thanks, guys, it's been so great today, but I've got to head off – if I'm lucky, this might actually result in a job. But... I'll see you again, okay? I will come back."

Baron smiled and nodded in the direction of the archway. "It's fine, Miss Haru. I wish you well."

"Thanks."

The cat Creation watched the young brunette as she disappeared out of the Refuge and down the alleyway. Toto joined him. "It looks like more than just the potential job is making her excited," Toto remarked after a hollow moment.

Baron didn't answer for several long seconds; he just watched the space where Haru had last been seen. "Something's wrong, Toto," was his eventual reply. "She's in danger. Come on; we're going after her."

Muta reappeared out of the Bureau just as the two Creations were flying out of the Refuge. "Hey, no, no, don't forget me! Ah... Phooey." He grunted and retreated inside the small house. "Guess I could finish off that cake while I'm at it."

ooOoo

The trip to the Bird Kingdom had taken longer than Haru had anticipated; when she checked her phone she saw that they had been much closer to the self-imposed three-hour limit than she had initially gauged. No wonder Michael had been pleased to finally get hold of her.

The door of the Paradise shop was ajar when she found it. She pushed it all the way open and almost stepped inside when her fingers brushed an irregularity on the wood. She paused and looked back; across the door were the longest, deepest scratches. She ran one finger tentatively along one. It splintered at her touch, still raw.

"What in the world..."

She entered carefully now, tiptoeing when she would have walked before, and still there appeared to be no sign of human life. Her eyes travelled to the cages of birds; they were quiet. She approached one and saw the creatures pinned, terrified, to the far side of their cage. Now she realised what was making her hair stand on end.

Silent.

The shop was silent.

Nerves now setting in with a foreboding sense of dread, she carefully made her way to the counter. "Michael?" she softly called. "Mr Banner? Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Psst!" The hiss came from one of the cages. Stopping, Haru spotted the owner to be a young tabby cat. She leant down and found herself whispering back.

"What is it? What happened here?"

"A monster," the cat whispered back. The feline was in shock; it kept twitching even as it spoke. "A feathered monster came through the door. I think it heard the birds singing and it confused it – but all I really know is that it attacked the humans. It was mad – it just came and attacked and..." The tabby broke off, a new wave of shivers rippling through it.

Haru felt sick. If it was indeed the same creature as before, then how could Michael have possibly survived? "The humans," she pressed; "are they still alive?"

The tabby moved her head wordlessly; it was neither an affirmation nor a denial. "I don't know," it said. "They fled into the main house. I think they're still there."

Haru patted the cage. "Thank you."

"Wait!"

The brunette paused.

"If... If they're gone... what will happen to us?"

Haru looked up, regarding the shop and all the life quivering in the corners. "I will make sure people come to look after you," she promised, although the thought that Michael could be gone made her weak. "You won't be forgotten." She felt, rather than heard, the relief spawned from her words. She smiled feebly, and walked through into the next room.

ooOoo

Toto hovered nervously above the shop Haru had but minutes ago entered. He glanced back to Baron.

"Now what? Do we go in after her?"

"I don't know, but – _WATCH OUT!_"

Toto swerved sharply to the left, narrowly avoiding the seagull. The bird rounded on them, but there was something new – something different – in the eye of this creature. It looked... desperate. It looked dying.

"Skender?"

The bird twitched, but recognition sparked in its otherwise lifeless eyes. "My... name..."

Baron nodded. "Yes. Don't you remember?"

Skender drifted, and the madness was quickly returning. Baron would have to act fast if they were to get any answers out of him.

"Skender, why are you doing this? You are a good bird – with a good heart – what did the humans do to deserve your hatred?"

"N – N – N –" The bird stuttered over the syllable. His eyes were losing the madness once again, but now defeat was crawling in. "Nothing!" he screamed and the battlecry that raged in his beak died and suddenly he was spasming in the air. Abruptly he dropped, hitting the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Such a waste," Toto murmured.

Baron glanced to the shop and then back to the bird. A shiver rippled through him; the death had been so sudden, so unprovoked. So senseless. The streets were empty – it was just a small side-street anyway – and so he motioned to Toto to fly them down. They landed beside the deceased creature, its body laid bare on the concrete pavement.

"Heart attack?" Toto suggested.

"Maybe." Baron looked over the bird; for not the first time in his profession, he was glad that being a Creation prevented him from vomiting. Still, he was decidedly nauseous. But even that was put on the metaphorical back-burner as he sped through what he knew. "They become irrationally aggressive, then they regain a little clarity, and then they die. It doesn't make sense, Toto."

"It sounds like a sickness."

"But they left the Bird Kingdom a month ago. If they had been attacking humans for that long, we would have known."

"Did they leave, Toto? Or were they taken?" And although the thought made him sick, he asked, "Did someone do this to them?" He looked up, his eyes trailing to the shop and now his eyes froze. Long clawmarks rang along the open door. "HARU!"

ooOoo

Upon ascending the stairs and entering the house that was above the shop, the quality of the air changed. Suddenly the silence wasn't so absolute anymore, but there was... something. Something new. She paused by the door and found herself picking up one of the umbrellas in the stand. Sadly, there weren't any canes available, but she supposed she would have to make do. She advanced along the corridor.

The moments passed and she finally pinned the sound down on footsteps.

Running footsteps.

She stopped and raised the umbrella, ready to strike.

The steps drew nearer until finally they could only be around the corner. She tensed, swung the umbrella back and...

Froze to a halt when a very familiar human turned the corner.

"Haru?"

"Michael!" Before her brain had affirmed the order, she found herself hugging the young man. "I thought you were dead! The clawmarks, and the abandoned shop, and I thought the eagle had–" She abruptly cut herself off upon realising what she was doing and, with as much dignity as she could manage, disentangled herself from him. "I'm sorry."

"So this is the young woman you were so eager to hire, Michael."

Haru's embarrassment swallowed her up entirely upon realising he wasn't alone. Michael was good enough to share her embarrassment. "Ah, yes... Haru, this is my grandfather, Daniel Banner, who owns the shop; Grandfather, this is Haru... and I really wish we could be meeting in better circumstances."

The older man was looking at the umbrella Haru was wielding in her hands. He whistled. "You do know what we're running from, right?"

"Big, ol' ugly eagle the size of a small pony, yes."

"And you were planning on taking it on with that?"

Haru looked to it and shrugged. "I would have preferred a cane really, but I work with what I have."

"Well, as lovely as this is," Michael chivvied, "we _really_ should be running."

There was the sound of something large approaching.

Haru took another look at the Banners and this time her eyes turned solely on the elder. He was clutching his waist and the telltale stains of red were beginning to soak through his shirt. "Are you mad? He can't run like that?"

"Young lady, if running means I survive long enough to see my eightieth birthday, I'll jolly well can." Mr Banners hobbled along the corridor, dragging himself every painful step. "Well? Are you coming?"

Michael started to move, but Haru caught his arm. She looked to the limping Mr Banner and whispered so only his grandson could hear. "You know he's not going to be able to out-run that monster." The creature was almost in their corridor. "He's not going to make it."

"So what do you suggest?" Michael bit back furiously. "Should I just leave him behind? Well, I'm sorry, I can't do that; he's the only family I've got left!"

Haru smiled bitterly. "Whoever said we were abandoning him?"

ooOoo

When the monster arrived in the corridor, only Haru stood there. In her hand she held the umbrella and though she was shaking, her lips were pursed and her brow furrowed. She was ready.

The creature cackled a laugh that was unearthly for the terrible human element it held. It regarded the lone human and for a moment seemed wary. The humans had never truly stood up to it; they had always run. And he had always chased.

And he had almost always, always won.

Haru was beginning to show more nerves now. Her fingers tapped against the side of the handle; her hands were growing slippery with sweat. "Come on, come on now," she muttered. "Come on – attack me."

The monster flew at her, suddenly speeding into such force that Haru almost fled. But at the last moment her feet locked into place and she swung the umbrella into the side of the creature. The bird staggered and stumbled through the open door, into the room to the right. It shook its head and began to regain orientation when something else hit it – something big and decidedly chair-like. Unprepared for the second blow, it stumbled back again and instead of hitting the wall, it came to the open window.

Michael swung the chair again and this time the monster was sent toppling out of the first floor window and hit the pavement. Michael ran to the window and leant out; below, the bird was twitching, but making no effort to move. He came back out to the corridor.

"It worked! Haru! Haru? Are you okay? Did it get you?"

"No, I'm fine." Haru doubled over now and was gasping for breath. She muttered a curse. "I didn't actually believe that would work."

Michael hugged the girl and then proceeded to kiss the top of her head. "You are fantastic."

"No, just very, very mad." She glanced back – around the corner, Mr Banner hobbled out. "You should tend to your grandfather." She started towards the exit, but Michael held her arm.

"Are you leaving so soon? You must be about to drop. Stay a little while and recover. Have some tea. It's the least we can do."

Haru laughed, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Toto and Baron hovering by the window. She patted Michael's hand and eased herself free. "It sounds like a fantastic offer, but I'll have to put a rain check on it. I have some friends I need to see." She ran out of the corridor."

Daniel Banner watched her go.

"She's hired."

ooOoo

The two Creations had barely flown as far as the first floor when something large and feathered was thrown out of one of the open windows. Toto hovered hesitantly while an unfamiliar face peered out and down at his handiwork. He grinned and suddenly was disappearing back into the building. "It worked! Haru!"

"I guess that would the caller from earlier," Toto cawed. "He must quite the human to take on that monster."

Baron made no audible reply, but motioned for Toto to fly to the window that the young man had just moved away from. From that vantage point, he could see the human embracing a decidedly familiar brunette and kissing the top of her head. Haru spotted the two Creations hovering outside and murmured an excuse before running for the exit. Reassured she would be joining them shortly, Baron gestured for Toto to make his descent.

The golden eagle wasn't dead – not yet. But the glint in its eyes betrayed the inevitable fate creeping upon it. It tried to twist towards the Creations, but pain and injury held it back. It shifted to the other side, but the previous fight in it was gone. Now there was something new – fear. Fear and... sorrow?

"Balthazar?" Baron approached the giant, even as his form completely dwarfed by the creature. The bird rolled its head to one side and regarded the feline.

"That is my name." The voice sounded as if it had once been powerful – had once had the authority to lead a whole patrol – but now it was merely wheezing. Underlying it, however, was still the echo of authority, even as every syllable became a painful struggle.

Baron heard the telltale sound of footsteps and the sudden intake of breath told him that Haru had found them. He kept his gaze on the eagle. "Balthazar, what were you doing? What did you hope to achieve by your actions?"

The bird wheezed for breath and his beak curved upwards in the barest of smiles. "There was... no reason," he gasped.

"Then why?"

"My head... I was just so... so angry. I needed – I wanted... to destroy... everything."

"What made you this way?"

Balthazar opened his beak, but only a hollow rattle escaped from his throat. He tried again, but death was fast approaching now.

"Please, Balthazar. We need to know."

"M – Man."

Haru's footsteps hesitantly approached and Baron glanced to see her. She met his gaze, silently asking permission to come closer. The Creation sighed and nodded. Haru stepped up to the creature and knelt down beside it. Balthazar turned his dulled gaze to her and there was the barest spark of recognition present.

"I – I'm sorry. For everything."

"It's okay," she murmured. "It wasn't your fault."

"But... it was. I should have... resisted."

Haru glanced back to Baron, and then to the eagle. "I'm sure you did everything you could."

"I became... I – I _am_ a monster."

"No... None of this was your doing. It was the person that changed you who is the monster." She knew she should press the issue; that they needed to know who was responsible for this, but the questions dried up in her throat. This was a very different creature from the monster that had almost torn her apart in the parking lot. This was... almost human. She smiled weakly and gently laid her hand on the eagle's head. "Cassandra... Cassandra had faith in you," she whispered. "She never believed that you would abandoned her or the Kingdom – even when everyone else did."

Balthazar's smile widened and, just for a moment, his eyes rekindled with the light of deep-rooted love. "Cassandra... She is more than I ever deserved."

And then the light died.

ooOoo

"–and so there's been no reports of bird attacks since last week and everything appears to be back to normal." Toto flew in through the open Bureau windows and landed on the railings. "The humans have begun to believe that it was a minor strain of virus that was too virulent and so killed its hosts before it could be passed on, so apart from the expected rumour mill, they're already beginning to forget." Toto paused and regarded the feline Creation stood silently at his desk. "Baron? Is everything quite alright?"

"Fine, Toto."

"Then why don't you sound it?"

"Whatever had been done to those birds, it appeared to result in over-aggression, followed by a short period of clarity that preceded death. It was lethal, Toto; eventually all the birds died of their own accord – heart attacks, in most cases."

Toto hopped onto the ground floor of the Bureau and watched Baron sift aimlessly through his files. He doubted the poor cat Creation even knew that he was doing that. "The funeral in the Bird Kingdom has brought it all back, hasn't it?"

"I just don't get it, Toto." Baron continued as if Toto hadn't spoken, but that said enough. "_Who_ would do such a thing? _Why_? What could they possibly hope to achieve by it?"

"Perhaps it wasn't planned. Perhaps it failed."

"That worries me more, Toto. Because if that wasn't planned, then someone is messing with something they don't understand and sooner or later something truly terrible is going to happen. Something is wrong, Toto." He started down at the array of files at his gloved fingertips. His hands clenched into fists. "Something is dreadfully wrong."

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by: **_**The Birds**_**. Written by Daphne du Maurier and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.**

**References: **

_**For the Birds**_**. A Pixar animated short. **

**ooOoo**

**Next Story: **_**Sunk**_**.**

**Teaser**: _**They stepped out into the fury of a storm; the wind whipping at their faces and the rain lashing at their skin. And was the ground... rocking? "That's the last time Natoru organises the portals!"**_


	3. Sunk (Part 1)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 3: Sunk (Part 1)**

The _Harmony_ shivered with each new wave that struck its bow; the water swept onto the deck and smashed against the sides. Above, the wind howled and the cries of the humans on board as nearly drowned out. The sea spray rose so high that it mingled with the torrential rain, beating down upon the modest vessel. A young woman ran across the deck, grabbing at the various diving equipment that was threatening to be washed overboard. The boat juddered again and she slipped. She seized the side railings before she too was swept over.

Now a man in his early forties appeared; he caught her arm and his voice could barely be heard above the storm.

"What are you doing?"

"The equipment!" she shouted back. Her hair, usually tied back in its long ponytail, whipped around her face in sodden, blonde streaks. "We can't lose the equipment!"

"Forget the equipment! We'll lose you if you stay out here!"

"If we lose it, we'll have to go back!" the woman snapped. "I _won't_ do that! The longer we take to kill this monster, the more lives will be lost!"

He grabbed the diving equipment from her. "I will not have your death on my hands!"

She opened her mouth to shout something back, but at that moment the boat jolted to the side; both humans staggered across the deck. The man grabbed the railing, stopping the woman from going overboard in the same moment. For now, though, he seemed to have forgotten their argument. Instead he stared into the turbulent, swirling water below where a lone, yellow barrel bobbed erratically.

"It's here."

He released his companion and made his reeling way back to the bridge even as the boat rocked again. He stumbled and seized the jamb of the bridge's doorway, pausing only to glance behind. "Watkins! Get inside!"

The woman only shook her head. "No, not until–"

"INSIDE!"

She met his gaze and suddenly, instantly, fear flooded her eyes. She made the first step towards him and at the same moment, the entire vessel shuddered. There was the unmistakable sound of something pounding against the keel, even over the rage of the storm. The ship slanted dangerously to one side and the woman skittered backwards. She caught herself on the side railings and now she was gasping. She looked back to the man and he saw the fear welling up again; he stepped towards her when the ship was smacked once again. The woman slipped, knocking over the railings and dropping into the water.

Another man appeared, this one in his mid-twenties, but the elder held him back.

"SOPHIE!"

"Hooper!"

"No, Sophie!" Hooper fought against his companion, but the other never loosened his grip. "No, you've got to–"

"I've already lost one; I'm not losing another," the elder snarled.

"But–"

"She's gone, you know that. The monster will have taken care of her. So I suggest you concentrate on surviving long enough to avenge her death." He pushed Hooper back inside and slammed the bridge's door shut. He pushed past his companion, and grabbed the edge of the consol. Another man was stood at the bridge; he was barely flinching at the beating of the boat.

"Brody, what are you doing?"

"What do you think, Quint?" Brody retorted. "I'm calling for help; we can't do this alone." He began pressing urgently at the controls and then started to shout into a speaker. "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is Chief Inspector Martin Brody on the boat, _Harmony_; we need backup. I repeat–"

The line died.

ooOoo

"All I'm saying, Haru, is do I give the guy a chance?" Hiromi was sat on the edge of the Paradise Pet Store's counter, idly chatting away while Haru was working. "I mean, I haven't seen him since secondary school, but he's doing pretty well – did you know that he got a scholarship from his ping-pong championships? I didn't even know that was possible?"

Haru shrugged and carried on filling the feeder for the cockatiel's cage. Tippi whistled impatiently, earning a quick eye-roll from the darker brunette.

"Anyway, he's not just doing ping-pong anymore – apparently he's doing some work with a newspaper – journalism, who knew, right?" Hiromi continued, quite oblivious as to whether Haru was listening or not. "We actually met up because he was doing a report on the bird attacks – did I tell you that someone at the hotel was attacked?" Hiromi worked at a small hotel on the edge of town as a receptionist and barmaid; something that she would possibly be a lot better at if she didn't talk the ears off every customer. "He recognised me, Haru – after all these years; isn't that something? – so he ended up asking me out for dinner but now I'm not sure whether I should go..."

Hearing the break in Hiromi's monologue gave Haru the feeling that she should be contributing something to this rather one-sided conversation. She closed the door to Tippi's cage and turned to face her friend. "This is Tsuge we're talking about, right?"

"Weren't you listening?"

"Is this the Tsuge you crushed on all the way through school?"

"Obviously."

"So why are you so nervous then? It's just a dinner date."

"Why am I...? What would you be like if Machida asked you out?" Hiromi demanded.

"Fine, since I don't like him anymore."

The lighter brunette huffed. "Of course you don't. But what do I do? Do I go?"

"If you like him, you should."

"But I haven't seen him since school! He could have changed! He could be nothing like I remember!"

Haru paused. She was right at the end of her shift for the day, in fact she would have been done a good ten minutes ago had Hiromi not decided to pay her friend a visit. She was as good as done now anyway. "Well then," she answered slowly, "go to the dinner and see what he's like. It's not like you talked much during school anyway. And," she added, grinning at her friend, "if it goes appalling, then at least you've got a free meal out of it."

Hiromi laughed, shaking her head as she did so. "I'm rubbing off on you, aren't I?"

"Heaven forbid." Haru rose to her feet and stretched. "Right, I think I'm done. Guess I better tell Michael."

"Oh, you mean the hot employer?"

Haru rolled her eyes. "I thought you had your eyes set on Tsuge, Hiromi."

"I do, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good-looking guy. Where is he anyway?" Her friend looked round, as if he might spring out of the woodwork. "Did he leave you to tend to the critters by yourself?"

"Well, he said it was either this or helping him with the accounts." Haru made a face and headed in the direction of the back room. "And, knowing my skills with numbers, I thought I'd be more a hindrance than a help."

"If it means you get to spend time with him, who cares?"

"Um, I do. Strangely enough." She opened the door and stuck her head inside. "Michael? Mr Banner? I think I'm done; is it okay if I head off?"

Michael leant away from the records, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Sure."

"Do you want to have a drink before you leave?" his grandfather asked. He nudged his grandson lightly. "Michael looks like he needs some coffee, so it wouldn't be a hassle."

"I'd love to, but my friend–"

"Doesn't care if you stay, as long as she can come too!" Hiromi cried, magically appearing over Haru's shoulder with an evil grin. "Please? Pretty please?"

Michael looked to his grandfather, who only shrugged. "The more the merrier."

"Alright. Why not?" The younger Banner rose to his feet and started to lead the two young women up to the main house, when a tapping noise distracted Haru. She turned and spotted a familiar black shape hovering by the front door of the shop. Toto tapped again.

"Haru? Are you alright?"

"Again, I'm sorry to say I'll have to put another rain check on that offer..." Haru smiled guiltily and started to back towards the main section of the shop. "I've just remembered – I promised to meet up with some friends... If that's okay..."

"Oh." Michael's face fell. "Of course. I won't keep you then."

"Another time, I promise."

"I'll keep you to that." The young man looked to Haru's friend and seemed at a bit of a loss. "The... um, offer of a drink still stands, if you want..."

"Nah, I know when I'm the plus one. But I'm sure I'll see you around again," Hiromi replied with a wink. "Isn't that right, Har–" She stared where the other woman had been only moments before; already Haru had disappeared out the front shop. "Haru?!"

ooOoo

Haru ran beside Toto, sprinting her way towards the Refuge. "So what's up, Toto? Anything exciting?"

"I came to see whether you were up for another adventure."

Haru grinned. "Always."

ooOoo

Upon entering the Refuge, Haru was not surprised to see Baron setting up another portal in the secondary archway. She came to a standstill, still mildly breathless after her run, and watched him work. "So?" she asked. "What's happening?"

"Ah, there you are, Miss Haru." Satisfied that the portal shard had been appropriately inserted into the appointed gap, he rose to his feet to greet her. Haru noticed the shard this time was a decidedly darker blue than before. "I take it then that you are indeed interested in attending another case."

"Of course. Toto didn't tell me what the case was though."

"I'm afraid there's not much to tell so far, which is why we've taken up this case. We wish to investigate. Come into the Bureau." He motioned for her to follow as he stepped into the modest green house. Haru did so, somewhat gingerly due to her size. Like her first time there, though, she still managed to find a perch on the same wooden chest as before. "I'd offer you tea, but I am afraid we may not have time for such matters today."

"Oh, that's alright." Haru shifted uncomfortably on the container, wishing – not for the first, nor the last time – that she could be considerably smaller when in the Bureau. The red sofa looked decidedly more comfortable than her current seat. "What's the problem?"

Baron approached a large, square box which Haru only recognised as a record player from her grandparents' house. "This." He set back the needle and let it run. A man's voice filled the room.

"_Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is Chief Inspector Martin Brody on the boat, _Harmony_; we need backup. I repeat–_" It abruptly cut off.

The Creation removed the needle. "And that's all we heard."

Haru hesitated, and then pointed tentatively to the player. "But how... how did you get that message? Do you know him?"

"The Refuge is filled with Creation magic; sometimes, that magic enable it to pick up distress calls." Here Baron paused, as if wondering whether to add something before saying, "Especially from those who have been to the Refuge before."

"So you do know him."

Baron nodded. "Inspector Chief Brody came to us many years ago. You see, when someone spends time in the Refuge – even for a short, fleeting time – it links some of that magic to the person and so a connection is formed. In times of danger, that link can feed back to here and carry a message with it." He motioned back to the record player. "As you can see, the distress call was so potent that it re-wrote the vinyl."

Haru thought this over. There were many questions she wished to add, but there was the undeniable fact that someone – someone Baron knew – was in danger and that the Refuge had picked up his distress call and carried it here. "How long ago did that message come through?"

"We received it only this morning." Toto flew in through the open windows to land on the ledge behind Haru. "We've spent the time since trying to locate the source and negotiate travel."

Muta, who had been sitting on the sofa all that time without saying a word, chose that moment to snigger. "As if you can negotiate with the Cat Kingdom."

Baron ignored Muta's blatant disregard of the kingdom and continued Toto's explanation. "The signal came from an island called Amity – it's far enough that we had to organise an intraworld portal, courtesy of the Cat Kingdom, but we are ready now. The portal should take us to the shore nearest from where the distress signal came from, but..."

"But what?"

Muta chortled. "But guess who's the expert on intraworld portals?"

Haru's stomach sank. "Don't tell me..."

"Natoru," they said in unison.

"But why?" Haru demanded. "He could barely carry a message to the king properly, let alone be possibly responsible for portals!"

"Regardless, he is the one who has had the most experience with them," Baron calmly explained. "He programmed the co-ordinates and, if it works out, then they should be correct. However, the issue I was going to mention–" and at this he spared the slightest of irritated glances to Muta for interrupting him "–is that intraworld portals and Creation magic do not work well together."

"And that means...?" Haru prompted.

"It means we don't know how accurate it will be," Toto answered. "Interworld portals usually deliver the traveller to the heart, the centre, of that world, but intraworld portals – portals that travel between the same world – are much more prone to external interference. There is a good chance that because of the Refuge's natural magic, and Baron and myself, that we may be off-target."

"But you're still going, right?"

Baron nodded. "Indeed. We cannot ignore a plea for help. However, I wish for you to understand the risks that this case will involve. Although we lack details, Chief Inspector Brody's message clearly conveys the presence of danger."

"I want to go."

Baron merely smiled. "I thought you might say that."

ooOoo

The portal this time was, like the shard, a deep, dark blue. Haru stared at it warily; her memory all too clear from the last time she had entered one like it.

"Wasn't the last one clear?" she asked after a dubious moment.

Baron stepped back from activating the portal and glanced to the young woman. "Interworld portals are. However, intraworld ones look like the one you see before you."

"But didn't I go through a blue portal to get to the Cat Kingdom?" She remembered that. She also remembered the rough landing she had been treated to upon entry.

"The blue portal you remember merely transported you to the lake where the real portal to the Cat Kingdom resided," Baron coolly explained. "The portal to the Cat Kingdom can be found in the waters of a lake know as Cat's Paw Lake; you travelled so fast from the blue portal to that, that you won't remember it. Now, Miss Haru, are you sure you want to go ahead with this?"

Haru gave Baron a look that clearly said she wasn't backing out any time soon. Instead she merely asked, "How long is this portal set?"

"This one should close upon us exiting it. King Lune," he quickly added, before Haru could ask the next obvious question, "has cats waiting on Amity Island, who will be able to open up a portal back to the Refuge as soon as we have this case dealt with."

"Good." Haru stared again at the blue, swirling portal and felt her resolve tighten. "Let's go then." With the Bureau by her side, she entered the sea of azure; her breath was caught as the air changed around her – it shifted as it crackled with energy and the pulse of life. She felt dizzy, as if the world was moving and she had been left behind, and then... and then it stopped.

They stepped out into the fury of a storm; the wind whipping at their faces and the rain lashing at their skin. And was the ground... rocking?

"That's the last time Natoru organises the portals!"

Haru wasn't given much time to agree with Muta's statement, for that instant the ground tilted and she found herself hurtling towards railings. Her breath was knocked out of her as her ribs smacked against the bars, but the alternative was far worse – for, below her and the railings was the furious, ever-shifting, mass of a deadly water. Even as she watched, she saw something swim beneath its depths.

There was a yowling to her left and she turned just in time to see Muta skidding across the ground. She struck out with her foot, blocking his way just before he slipped beneath the safety railings and into the water. "Thanks, Chicky!"

Haru had turned her head away though in pursuit of the other two Bureau members. The torrential rain was thick in the air, serving like fog to cloud the sky. "Where's the others, Muta?" she demanded. If Baron had been swept over the edge... She shook her head; it didn't bear thinking about. "Baron! Toto!"

Suddenly a form appeared out of the rain and Haru heard the distinct words of several colourful curses. She leant down, grabbing Muta by the scruff of the neck. "Hello? Who's there? Who are you?"

The form stepped forward and now Haru could see it was a man, soaked to the skin by the rain and heading closer. "I could ask you the same question! What in blazes are you doing out here?!" Before she had time to answer, he grabbed her arm and hauled her across the boat. "Come on."

"Wait – my friends–"

"Are safe. Get inside."

Still clutching Muta, Haru found herself shoved into a cabin, whereupon the man entered after her and slammed the door shut. The howl of the wind lessened, but not enough for its dreadful cry to die away completely. Haru shot her gaze about the cabin; they appeared to be at the bridge of the boat, where two other men were present, as well as the missing members of the Bureau. "Baron!"

The feline Creation stood on the surface of the consol beside Toto; both were dripping wet – wet, but alive. "I'm glad to see you made it, Miss Haru."

"Looks like you even remembered the butterball," Toto snickered.

Muta wriggled free and dropped to the ground like a pound of lead. "Didn't see you being much help back there, birdbrain!"

"Again with the birdbrain insult; you really need some new material."

"Now, now, gentlemen," Baron smoothly interrupted. "Now is not the time nor the place for such bickering." He turned to the same man who had brought Haru in from the storm and bowed. "It's good to see you again, Chief Inspector."

"As am I, Baron, but I don't understand what you're doing here."

As he looked over the sodden members of the Bureau, Haru sympathised with his confusion. After all, what exactly could they do here? It wasn't like being back in the Cat Kingdom, where height wasn't an issue for the Cat Bureau; here Baron was simply a foot-high figurine, even if he was in his flesh state currently.

"We received your distress call," the cat Creation answered, "however, an inaccuracy with the portal led us to your boat, instead of Amity Island."

Brody was attempting to light a cigarette, but quickly discovered the rain had seeped into the packet. He flicked it into the bin. "Bah. Just as well you landed on our vessel, and not into the sea itself. If you had, then there'd be nothing left of you by now."

Baron frowned, attempting to gleam what information he could from this negative answer, when one of the men spoke up.

"Excuse me for breaking up this charming reunion," he drawled; he was in his thirties, with a sharp face and sharper eyes, "but I think those of us who aren't in the loop are waiting for an explanation." His eyes flickered over each newcomer in turn, with nothing but the barest of contempt and curiosity in his gaze. "What are the talking animals doing here?"

"They're here to help," Brody replied levelly. "The world, Mr Zaroff Quint, is a lot more complicated than you could dream of. They've helped in the past and I have no reason to distrust them." He looked back to Baron. "This is Quint, our resident hunter, and over there is Matt Hooper." He nodded in the direction of the youngest man who, as of yet, hadn't added anything to the conversation. "He is our expert on sharks. Hooper, Quint, meet the Cat Bureau. This is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, Toto and Muta." He looked to Haru. "I confess as to having little clue as to who you are."

"Haru... It's just Haru." The brunette smiled weakly even as the shivers from the cold set in. The rain was sinking into her skin, chilling her to the bone. "You could say I... got brought along for the ride."

"Now that everyone has been introduced, perhaps we could learn as to what you are doing out here?" Baron offered. "Last I heard, Chief Inspector, you weren't much of a fisher."

"And I doubt I will ever be after this." Brody sighed and nodded towards a set of stairs leading down to the deck below. "Let us move this conversation somewhere a little more comfortable. I could do with a drink before I start this story."

ooOoo

"It began with a missing girl – she went for a midnight swim, never came back – and the initial verdict was that she had drowned. She had been drinking, after all, and the sea had been rough that night, but then the body turned up." Brody's eyes went hollow. He took a swig from his drink and carried on. "It was no drowning. Something had torn her up; something had shredded her apart so badly that we barely had remains to work from. That was when we brought Hooper in – he recognised the killer for what it was – a great white."

"A shark?" Haru hadn't meant to interrupt, but the question came spilling out before she could stop it.

"Yes, Miss Haru. One of the worst man-eaters we could get."

"I thought sharks didn't eat humans," she said. The words wouldn't stop coming. "I mean, I know there is the occasional, accidental attack, but I didn't think they purposely went for humans."

"They don't." Now Hooper spoke; it was the first words he had said since the Bureau's arrival and Haru rather suspected that their appearance had silenced him until now. He spoke softly; he must have been the quietest of the crew there. "That is what makes this creature so unusual. Since the girl's death, there have been others, all torn apart like her. This shark is... a monster..." He dropped his gaze, staring at the floor. His knuckles were white.

"Which is why we are out here," Brody picked up. "We have to kill this creature before it kills anyone else. That's why Quint is here – his record shows he has taken down almost every predator there is out there. He's our best chance."

Quint inclined his head in silent acceptance of the praise, but the smirk spoke of anything but humility. "I do my best."

"For a sum," Hooper muttered.

"Everyone has their price, Mr Hooper," Quint replied. His eyes glittered. "Some of us aren't born into wealth, like others."

"You still haven't caught it yet, have you?"

"I _am_ doing my best."

"Well your best isn't good enough!" There was the slamming of his clenched fist upon the table and suddenly the younger man was on his feet and bearing down on Quint. "If you were half as good as you say you are, you should have killed it by now! If you had done your job, then _she_ would still be alive!" He caught his breath, just as surprised by his outburst as his companions were. He quietened down, but when he looked away his eyes were still burning. "I'm going to the bridge. Just in case the electronics are working again." He disappeared up the stairs.

Baron looked to Brody. "What happened?"

"We... had a fourth member of our team. Sophie Watkins. You see, we had heard that the shark had been seen in these waters, so we travelled out, only to be attacked this morning as we drove. The shark has become so aggressive that it has taken to attacking moving vehicles; not just humans anymore. It took out our propeller and delivered fatal damage to the engine. During this we... we lost Sophie."

"Who was she?" Haru asked.

"She was our diver. Hooper was convinced that she would be an invaluable help, so we accepted her. It was after she went overboard that I sent out the signal for help."

"Did you receive a reply?"

Brody shook his head. "No. It was at that point that all the electronics cut out." He sighed and regarded the vessel around him. "This boat is dead."

"Sure the shark couldn't have killed the electrics too, could it?" Haru asked.

"No – we doubt it was the shark at all that was responsible for that, but there seems to be no explanation at all. Even the electronics that weren't linked to the boat are gone." For emphasis, he tapped the side of an electric clock; its hands forever stuck at half nine. "It makes no sense."

"So, summed up... nothing on this heap of junk works?" Muta remarked irritably from the side.

"I wouldn't put it quite like that but, yes, that bluntly covers the basics."

Haru snapped her gaze from Muta to Brody at the latter's words. "Wait – are you a cat speaker too?"

"No, Miss Haru. Muta is the only feline I understand."

"It's the Refuge, Chicky," Muta grunted. "It messes with your head after a while."

"I think what Muta is trying to say," Baron smoothly interjected, "is that if one lives in the Refuge for long enough, it brings about certain changes. Being universally understood is just one of them." Baron sat at the edge of the table he had been previously standing on, and leant his head thoughtfully on his hands. "Now, Chief Inspector, I believe we have a fish to catch..."

ooOoo

"We don't get many sharks in these waters, so we have relatively little equipment," Brody said, walking along the interior of the boat and picking out a selection of guns and harpoons as he went. "Most of what we have is courtesy of Quint, but even he is more equipped for terrestrial predators than marine ones."

Baron, who was sitting on Haru's shoulders as Brody talked, gave the wide weapon selection a doubtful look. "What have you tried so far?"

"Quint managed to shoot it once with the harpoon gun, but we've had no success since."

"Oh, I wouldn't view that as such a little victory," Quint countered smoothly. He retrieved one of the guns off Brody. "After all, if it weren't for that, we wouldn't have the early alarm system that we do."

Haru shifted her gaze away from the deadly weapons and onto the two men. "You know when it's coming?"

"Most of the time. The harpoon was secured to a barrel; whenever the barrel is in sight, we know the shark is too. However," the inspector added, "it doesn't appear to have slowed the monster in the least."

"It's a tough one, but that only makes the hunt more exciting."

Brody's gaze flickered to Quint, unnerved by the hunter's words. "The sooner we kill it, the better." He shoved a harpoon to the man. "After all, we only have twenty-four hours to destroy this monster."

"Twenty-four hours?" Baron echoed. "Why?"

"The mayor of Amity fears that closing down the beaches for any stretch of time longer than twenty-four hours will damage the tourist business," Brody grunted, and the disgust was evident in his voice. "We have until tomorrow before he re-opens the beaches."

"At which point Amity Island will become an open banquet for our fishy friend," Quint finished.

Brody was silent.

At that moment, Hooper appeared at the top of the stairwell. "The storm's over–"

"Great!" Quint pushed his way up the stairs and past Hooper.

"And there's something else," the biologist added. "The yellow barrel is out there."

Quint grinned and sprinted to the main deck. "Time to hunt the hunter then."

Hooper didn't try to stop the man, but he turned to look to the inspector. "Brody, what do we do?"

"We shoot that thing out of the water." He tossed one of the guns to Hooper, which the latter clumsily caught. He held the thing like it was going to bite. "Come on."

Haru smiled sympathetically to the biologist while they followed after Brody. When they got to the main deck, Quint was already there, harpoon lined to one of the barrels and gun raised to fire. The sea was calm.

And empty.

On hearing his companions arrive, Quint glowered and looked over his shoulder to them

"Are you sure you saw the barrel?"

"Do you think I would mistake it?" Hooper growled back. He elbowed his way to the bow and, shaking hands wrapped around the iron railings, scanned the horizon. Still, it was empty.

Quint grunted and lowered his weapon. "False alarm. Hey, you – girly." He clicked one finger in Haru's direction. "Make yourself useful and pass me the bait."

Haru looked to the bucket that she was standing beside; Muta was already inspecting it with his nose. "Poohy, do you really expect the shark to eat that?" he asked, wrinkling his face as he spoke.

Haru rolled her eyes and hoisted the bucket into her hands. Muta was right; it did stink. She started to hold her breath as she brought it over to the hunter.

"No, look – it's back!"

Hooper's cry jolted everyone on board. Quint swung his weapon wildly in the direction Hooper was pointing, while Brody raised his own; both were shouting. Haru stumbled, trying desperately to spot the barrel that the biologist was referring to. She saw it just as something large and extremely heavy rammed into the side of the boat.

She hit the railings and the bait – bloodied meat – slipped from the bucket and into the water. The boat was hit again, and this time it toppled dangerously to the side Haru stood. Haru's grip on the bucket was lost and it went over. She made a grab for it and slipped in the process.

The scream in her throat was ripped away when she smacked into the water. The cold seeped immediately into her skin and suddenly she was gasping, treading water and gasping as the freezing temperatures hit her lungs. The blood from the meat washed against her, sinking into her clothing and soaking into her hair. She turned and tried to reach the side of the boat – the railings, the ledge, _anything_ that would allow her to drag herself back up – but her hands only brushed against the smooth keel of the boat.

There was shouting overhead – someone had noticed her. But every time she reached for the ledge and slipped, her efforts dropped her back down into the water. Using her hands against the boat to steady her, she pushed herself in a half-jump and her fingers curled inches below the rail. She fell back into the sea and the water rushed over her head.

Movement caught her eye. Still below the surface, she turned.

The shark was coming.

**ooOoo**

**A/N: The characters written here are only partially inspired by the book/film. They're not meant to be exact copies; I changed and edited them in the way that would best fit the plotline I'm writing, but kept the names as references. This will be true in all adaptations/variations I write.**

**Please read and review! (This request always confuses me... if you've got to that request, then you've already read it, and sometimes it takes a lot more than a nice request to get people to review... Now threats, threats are much better.) Anyway, I can manage bribery; if you leave a nice (or not), interesting review, you might just see it appearing at the end of this story. Being read. That's all I'll say.**

**ooOoo**

**Teaser: **_**"You're going to get her killed if you bring her out on missions like this... You won't always be there to save her, Baron." / 'This is it. I'm going to die. I'm going to die alone and far away from home...' / "I've lost two good people already; I won't lose a third!"**_


	4. Sunk (Part 2)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 4: Sunk (Part 2)**

'_This is it. I'm going to die. I'm going to die alone and far away from home and it's all because I couldn't keep my ruddy balance_.'

Haru could only stare as the creature approached; it truly was a beautiful, perfect killing machine. The great fish moved silently through the evening water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail. The mouth was open just enough to permit a rush of water over the gills, but it was steadily widening, growing in readiness to engulf its prey. Its movements could almost be considered idle, for it swam with the predator's knowledge that its prey was frozen by fear. That it was as good as dead.

She could still hear the cries of the people aboard the boat, but they were muffled now by the water's interference. The sounds were muted and slow and came as if from another world. They could be another world away, for all the good it would do her, for there would be no saving today. Today she would just be another tragedy. A pointless, but inevitable tragedy.

The jaws were closer now and Haru could see the rows of jagged teeth lining its mouth, all ready and waiting to tear her apart. It quickened its pace, as if excited for the kill, as if its jaws ached for death.

The noise from above was now drowned out by the pounding in her ears; her lungs needed oxygen, but she wasn't moving. If she was going to become a shark's dinner, then suffocation was the least of her worries. She tried again to convince her feet to shift – to swim, to make that last bid for life – but they remained dead to the world. She tried to swim with her hands, but her whole body was shaking and the efforts didn't do enough to propel herself back to the surface.

A silent scream filled her throat.

Then something – surely not someone, for it was too small – dived into the water, streaking into the space between Haru and the great white. She just had time to register the familiar suit and orange fur before there was a flash of light from the individual. She twisted away, shying from the blinding light, and something below the keel of the boat shimmered – something there, but not quite there. It caught her eye, even as she registered that no shark had come upon her. She stared, despite her oxygen-starved brain giving out on her, until a hand curled around her collar and dragged her out of the water.

Remembering her saviour, she instinctively grabbed the figurine and both she and Baron were brought up and back onto the deck. She gasped, and the air felt like acid to her lungs. She gasped again and, dropping Baron to one side, turned over to retch. Nothing came out and now she was coughing – coughing, but alive. She collapsed to one side, wheezing, exhausted and violently shivering. Voices filled the air and made her head hurt. The underwater world had been so very silent.

"Miss Haru? Miss Haru, are you injured?"

She squinted and her eyes focused on the person responsible for bringing her out of the water – Chief Inspector Brody. She tried to form her gratitude, but her throat was raw and no words would come. She collapsed into another coughing fit.

"She should be grateful she's alive," Quint's voice gratingly commented. "Another moment and she would have been fish food."

"I think we're all very aware of what could have happened," Brody flatly replied.

Haru swung her head round and this time her eyes focused on the small form of Baron. Again, no words would form, but she smiled in a way she hoped would convey her gratitude.

"Miss Haru," he gently said, and she could see now that he was shaking, "are you inured?"

Haru shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded her head, more violently this time until it made her dizzy. She tried to sit up, and now her hair swung before her eyes, wiping lines of red along her face. She recoiled, and now she saw her arms and clothes were covered in the stench of blood. She didn't understand this – how was this possible? Had the shark got her after all?

Hooper knelt down beside the young woman and gently rubbed the blood away. It came clean off, showing unblemished skin beneath. "Miss Haru," he asked, "did the shark get you?"

Haru opened her mouth, and this time a hoarse, "No," came out.

"You don't hurt anywhere?"

She shook her head, but hesitated after a moment. She looked to her arm and pulled away the sleeve, where she had violently hit the railing before falling. It wasn't bleeding, but a coloured bruise was quickly developing and the skin was grazed. Still no blood though. "I... I dropped with the bait," she eventually managed to stutter out. "I'm okay." She wiped away the blood from her hands and, that done, wrapped them around her, biting back the shivers.

"She's in shock," Hooper remarked to the onlookers. "She needs to get warm and have something to drink."

"Dammit, we haven't got time for this!" Quint snapped. "That monster was only metres away from the boat; if you had let me shoot it–"

"And what if you had missed?" Toto demanded. He landed beside Baron and glared up at the hunter. "You could have hit Haru."

"She was going to be dead meat anyway – if your cat friend hadn't jumped in, then she would have been history–"

Baron's gaze turned to Quint and his words came out clipped and sharp. "But she's not, and so there is no reason to bring it back up," he said curtly. "The shark is gone for the time being, but it will be back. I suggest we spend the time we have constructing a plan for when that happens. I wouldn't worry, Mr Quint; you'll have your chance to shoot."

"Guys," Hooper spoke up, "Miss Haru really needs to get inside."

Brody nodded. "Alright. Hooper, take her to the cabin and take care of that wound. Quint, Baron, we need to work on a plan; you too, Toto. As soon as you're done, Hooper, come back to the bridge. And Muta..." The inspector looked to the fat cat and seemed quite at a loss at what the feline should do. "Go with Miss Haru."

"Oh, so even now I'm _still_ the babysitter?"

Baron gave him a look. "Not now, Muta."

"Well, it's _true_."

Hooper helped Haru to her feet, for even now she was still shaking. As she shuffled towards the interior of the boat, she glanced back once to the open sea.

The barrel was nowhere in sight.

ooOoo

"Ow–"

"Sorry – sorry." The biologist abruptly removed the cloth from the wound. "But I need to clean this–"

"I know." Haru winced and this time her hand tensed into a fist. "Doesn't make this any less painful."

Hooper laughed lightly – hollowly, even. "You're very lucky to get away with just this bruising, Miss Haru. With the way that shark attacks, there have been very few to escape at all." His eyes dimmed. "We all know someone who's died."

"Who was it?"

The man jolted out of his thoughts. "What?"

"Who did you lose to the shark?"

"Sophie." The name came out sharply, as if it physically hurt to speak it, and he grimaced at his own voice. "Sophie Watkins."

"You were close, weren't you?"

Hooper smiled humourlessly. "More than close," he said simply. He returned his gaze to the grazed skin on Haru's arm, cleaning away at the wound. Haru found no words to say that could possibly heal the wound he was carrying, so she did the only thing that seemed proper; she remained silent. It seemed the right thing to do, for he spoke a minute later. "It was my fault."

"What?"

"It's my fault she's dead," he declared and now his eyes had dropped to the wooden floor at his feet. "I was the one who got her onto this trip; if it hadn't been for me, she would still be alive. I knew she wasn't thinking rationally, and I should have realised that her grief would cloud her judgement, but still... I ignored all the warning signs. It's my fault she's dead," he repeated.

"I don't think it is," Haru murmured. "She was a grown woman; she had the right to make her own choices."

"She wanted revenge," Hooper interceded. His voice was sharp, but not loud. "No one thinks rationally under such situations."

"Revenge?" Haru echoed. "On who?"

"Not who," he corrected. "What."

"The shark? But... why?"

"Like I said, we all know someone who's died."

"So who did the shark kill?"

Matt Hooper was silent and Haru thought the conversation had been dropped entirely. But as he completed the task of cleaning up, he spoke again. "The first girl that disappeared was called Chrissie Watkins." He paused and then added. "She was Sophie's younger sister."

"She came out here to avenge her sister's death."

"And the shark killed her instead," Hooper finished. He got up and returned the first aid to its respective cupboard, even as Haru tugged her sleeves back over the bruising. She was only glad that she had hit her left arm, and not her right. Her right was still scarred from the bird attack a week ago. She dragged the blanket further around her, savouring the warmth.

The clothes she wore now were borrowed; the clothes she had before had been soaked through and bloodied; neither of which would help her with her shock, and so Hooper had retrieved the top and trousers from one of the private cabins. Only now did she begin to wonder where the woman's clothing had come from.

Hooper must have noticed her train of thought, for when he turned back to her, he said, "They're Sophie's. Guess she didn't need them now and you looked about the same size, so..." He shrugged, but the action was painful. Haru smiled weakly.

"Thank you. They make all the difference."

Hooper grunted and started to make his way back to the bridge. Haru caught his wrist before he reached the stairwell.

"Hooper, I know you cared for Sophie, but don't let your grief run the same course as hers," Haru said softly. She felt him tense at her words. "If you let it become a need for revenge, then it will kill you too."

He pulled himself free and continued his way.

"Thank you for your consideration, Miss Haru, but I know exactly what I'm doing. That monster will die."

ooOoo

The sea was empty.

This did little for the nerves of the boat's occupants; they watched and waited and still no sign came of the yellow barrel. Not even Toto, who flew out to search for it, came in sight of it. Eventually he tired from his flight in his flesh form and had to stop. And still they waited.

Brody sat at the bow of the ship, his gun over his knees and his eyes forever scanning the becalmed ocean. Baron stood beside him; quite unable to wield any weapon that would make an indentation on the great white, but content to help keep watch.

"I've never heard you take on a human as a Bureau member." The inspector kept his gaze solidly on the silent sea, but his words were unmistakably directed to the figurine at his side. "She must be quite something."

"She's not a member." Baron's voice was tight, but he didn't look to the man. "She's an ex-client."

Brody was silent for a moment. Then, "I thought she was young to be part of the Bureau. But what's an ex-client doing on a case like this?" When Baron failed to reply immediately, the inspector shrugged and added, "Of course, it's none of my business. Still, it would appear business at the Cat Bureau has changed since my last visit."

"She's a friend, that's all," Baron said.

"She shouldn't have come," Brody replied briskly. "Someone like her – she's not cut out for this life. She panics. She freezes up in fear. I would have thought you would see that, Baron."

"We all have to start somewhere. I see great potential in Miss Haru."

"Potential or not, you're going to get her killed if you bring her out on missions like this."

"I won't let that happen."

"Of course you won't, but it's what will happen eventually. You won't always be there to save her, Baron."

"She understands the risk."

"I know she does; after today I'm sure she'll never forget. But the question is... do you?"

"Shark off the port stern!" Toto's shout broke the crew into action; suddenly Brody and Hooper were racing round to the back of the boat, while Quint had already been ready and waiting. He had his harpoon gun raised, the string already attached to another one of the yellow barrels.

"The barrel should keep the beastie close to the surface," Quint growled, his gun scanning the sea for a clear view of the monster, "but it looks like it's been dragging itself and the barrel beneath the water. Tricky little critter was going to take us unawares."

"How... large exactly would a creature have to be to be able to drag one of the barrels under?" Hooper asked.

"Not as big as it could be," Quint assured, "but quite big enough."

"And a second barrel should work?"

The hunter shrugged. "Hopefully."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we've got a goliath on our hands. Ready yourselves; here it comes."

The barrel was fast approaching, but the monster that was dragging it along was still deep enough to hide in the darkening waters. Brashly, Quint leant over the side and his eyes soon picked out a huge shadow beneath them. He hasted backwards, suddenly yelling, "Get back! It's coming!"

The remainder barely had time to register and follow his order before _it_ arrived.

_It_ was huge. _It_ was at least twenty five feet in length and easily three tons. _It_ had just broken from the water and _it_ had just beached itself on the lowered stern of the boat.

The humans, who had been so prepared for its arrival, hadn't been prepared for _this_. They hadn't been prepared for the boat to dip and the far side to sink into the water and for their ground to slip away as their world tilted. Brody grabbed the side railings, but his grip on his weapon slipped and it slid straight off the boat. Quint was trying to tie the end of the harpoon's rope to another one of the barrels, for the previous rope had snapped in the fall, and Hooper was simply struggling to stay upright. And still the monster snapped relentlessly at the far side, its huge jaws savouring for the humans so enticingly close.

"Shoot it!" Brody was shouting to Quint. "SHOOT IT!"

"I'm trying!" The boat rocked and Quint's attempt to tie the rope missed, and, while cursing beneath his breath, he restarted the knot. His eyes were feverish, bright and clear with the thrill of the chase. Despite everything, he was grinning.

"Shoot the damn thing!" Hooper was now also shouting, and there was a different look in his eyes. Something feverish also, but it was clouded with another set of emotions – rage and hatred. Hatred for the great white which had taken away so many lives so pointlessly, and as he shouted again for Quint to hurry up, his own grip on the boat slipped. Suddenly he was being pulled by gravity down the boat and towards those chomping teeth. His gun jammed and instead he drew out what single other weapon he had on him – a knife.

There was more shouting now, but it wasn't just directed at Quint anymore. Not that Hooper heard; as the jaws neared, he became blinded with rage. The mouth clamped down upon his legs and now he was screaming, stabbing the knife uselessly into the monster's pale flesh. Long lines of blood were drawn and still the creature showed no sign of stopping.

Quint finally got the rope tied to the barrel and suddenly the monster was jarred by the harpoon piercing its side. It quivered and retreated into the water, dragging Hooper with it. Someone – they weren't even sure who – shouted a warning, and both humans ducked as the second yellow barrel was hauled loose. Now two barrels were bobbing in the water and even as they were watched they were dragged under.

Brody turned on Quint. "What the _hell_ was that?" he demanded.

"I needed–"

"No, you didn't! Marking with a second barrel was not our first priority! If you had shot when I had said, Hooper might still be alive!"

"Hooper was set for death the moment Watkins died," Quint replied bluntly. "You knew as well as I did that it was only going to be a matter of time before he did something stupid. Anyway, that second barrel should make the creature a lot more likely to surface in the near future." His eyes glittered again with that same hunting madness, and what Brody saw in those eyes unnerved him.

"That's all you think about, isn't it?" he snapped. "The hunt, the chase, that's all that matters to you, isn't it?"

Quint only smiled and retreated into the cabin. "Tell me if it returns."

ooOoo

"He's dead?" For several, stinted moments, Haru could bring no more words to her lips. Her eyes watered and she wiped them away angrily. She had liked Hooper; he had been nice. Out of the three official crewmembers, he was the gentlest one; the one who she had had time to sit down and talk with while she had had her wounds cleaned up.

But she had also seen the grief in his eyes and she had sensed the desire for revenge – at whatever the cost.

In the end, she only managed, "And the shark?"

"Still at large, but with another barrel now attached," Brody said. He omitted the details there; there was quite enough tension onboard the boat without adding Haru's reaction to the mix. He needed a crew that would act accordingly, not respond out of anger or revenge. That was what had killed Sophie and Hooper.

Haru hadn't asked anything else yet, and Brody could see she was struggling to find her next question. There were so many things she must be dying to know, but her next words were, "So what's the plan?" She looked up and met his gaze; she was shaken, but she was still standing. Brody re-evaluated his previous estimation of the young woman; she was stronger than he had given her credit for.

"We don't know. Quint thinks that the double barrels now linked to the shark should cause it to surface sooner rather than later, but for now it appears to have receded. We don't know where it is."

Haru was silent. She had little experience in such matters, and what she did know was gleamed from the occasional book and inaccurate film. But there was something else – something else entirely – whch was nagging at the back of her mind. "In the water..." she murmured.

"I'm sorry?"

"In the water," she repeated, and this time she seemed to have gathered her wits. "When I was last in the water, I saw something beneath the boat. It might help us understand what's going on here–"

"And you're thinking of checking it out?" Quint asked idly. He sounded amused by the idea. "Good luck; we'll fish what's left of you and send it to your family."

Brody and Baron had other answers.

"No, no way."

"Miss Haru, we cannot allow you to–"

"I do know what I'm putting myself into," Haru snapped irritably. "In case you've forgotten, I have seen first-hand what kind of creature we're dealing with – I almost got eaten by it!"

"Which is why we cannot allow you – or anyone else – to go back into the water," Baron reasoned slowly.

"But this could answer what's going on; I'm _sure_ of it."

"And we're _sure_ the shark will make a delightful appetiser out of you," Quint remarked. The amusement was still present.

"I'm the same size as Sophie; I bet I could fit into her diving gear–"

"Miss Haru, I don't think–"

"And if we take any longer to kill this fish, then it's just going to kill more people–"

"Like yourself."

"–but perhaps, if there's some clue beneath the boat–"

"ENOUGH!" Brody's fist came onto the table, silencing everyone. "You are NOT going back into the water, and that's final!"

ooOoo

Haru crept across her cabin, her hands reaching blindly for the walls and her eyes straining in the midnight black. She could hear the sounds of the other humans sleeping fitfully as the boat swayed hypnotically from side to side. The boat veered more to one side than the other for a moment, and Haru stumbled into the round form of Muta. He grunted and Haru saw his eyes open.

"What are you doing, Chicky?"

"Shush. I just... I just needed some air, that's all."

"At this time of night?"

"I feel sick."

His eyes, strangely luminous in the night, shut again. "Suit yourself."

Reassured that the fat cat wasn't awake enough to properly analyse the situation, let alone wake anyone else up, she continued her tiptoeing walk across the lower cabins until she came to the stairwell. The other humans were still fast asleep when she reached the bridge. She quickly found the discarded diving gear and had just finished donning the wetsuit when a very familiar voice spoke up.

"Just some air, huh?"

She screeched, and clamped her hands over her mouth before she could awaken anyone else. The fat cat was stood at the top of the stairwell, his white fur gleaming as the moonlight streamed through the windows. "You know, I never put you down as a liar, Chicky."

"Muta? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, I just wanted some air."

Haru rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

Muta, however, only gave her a doubtful look over the diving equipment. "What are you really doing then?"

"I know I saw something down there, and I plan on getting a second look at it," Haru said stubbornly. She clipped the air canister on and left the face mask loose around her neck for the time being. "You mustn't tell anyone – they'll only stop me."

"For a good reason! You heard what they said – if anyone goes into that water, they'll be ripped to shreds."

Haru furiously motioned for him to quieten down. "Only if the shark is in the vicinity. The yellow barrel should give me enough warning to get out of the water–"

"You couldn't get out of the water alone last time; how do you plan to manage it this time?"

Toto, who had been sleeping outside until this point, flew in through one of the open windows. "What's the commotion? Haru, what are you doing?"

"Listen, I'm sure that whatever is beneath this boat is part of the mystery," Haru insisted. "I just know that this isn't just a normal shark attack – there's something else going on. Like there was with the birds. What if it wasn't just an isolated case? What if there are more animal attacks going on around the world, and we just haven't put the pieces together yet? This could be a vital clue to solving the mystery and I'm not just going to stand back and do nothing."

"Haru, you can't do this–"

"Oh, I can. Whether I should is another matter, but I'm going to anyway."

"I should wake the others."

Haru's face fell. "Toto, please... This isn't a bout of rebellion or a need to prove myself, this is a desire to help unravel this mystery before it's too late. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, Toto."

The crow looked to Muta, and the round cat only shrugged. "It's not like anything else has worked yet."

Toto sighed. "Alright, Haru; we won't tell. But we will help."

"Really? You will?"

"Wait? We will?" Muta echoed.

Toto gave the cat a blunt look. "Yes. Come on."

ooOoo

Dropping into the watery depths was like sinking into another world. The noise of the world above faded away until only the sluggish beat of the water could be heard in tandem with her own tepid heartbeat. The rubber of the mouthpiece felt strange against her teeth, the canned air somehow metallic in its taste. She drifted in a steady, lazy circle, surveying the blue, moonkissed waters gently holding her.

She sunk further down, the moonlight receding at this point and darkening its depths. She didn't have deep to go, but the difference was startling. She dove beneath the boat, searching for the source of her curiosity.

The dimness of the waters aided her search, for she barely but swam beneath the vessel when that same, shimmering effect caught her eye. She rested her hand on the keel of the boat above and stared down. In the darkness, the distortion seemed clearer than before, but she still couldn't exactly make out its form.

Something began nibbling at her heel; she instinctively kicked at it. It carried on a moment later and she finally tore her eyes from the... whatever it was, to check herself.

A fish, no larger than her hand, was latched onto her flipper, digging its sharp little teeth through the rubber and into into her skin. She bit back a yelp and kicked at it; it lost its grip for a moment and then sped in for another attack. She retaliated by swinging her legs up and this time smacking it into the hull of the boat. Dazed, the creature tried to head back to her, and she kicked it again into the vessel. This time it drifted away, only semi-conscious.

'_What the hell was that about?_'

She glanced down to her foot again, curling and un-curling her toes within the flipper until she was satisfied that all ten were accounted for. A faint trail of red drifted after her movements. Blood.

She winced and moved her gaze back to the matter at hand. The shimmer was still there. She pushed herself away from the boat and dove towards the source, stopping only yards from it. At this range, she could see that whatever was causing the surreal distortion appeared to be flat and round – about two metres in diameter. And it seemed... strangely familiar to her.

She balked, scooting back half a foot at the sudden realisation – she _had_ seen something like this before. But that had been in the Bureau and had taken them to the Bird Kingdom... so what was a portal doing out here?

Suddenly, the shimmer vanished and the portal was gone. Haru jolted back. What was that about? And what did this have to do with any of the animal attacks?

Something new caught the corner of her eye; she glanced down and spotted something rising. Something yellow.

She squinted; the pale moonlight barely caught it and she could only just make out two round, yellow objects hurtling her way. The edges of them curved away and each was about the size of Haru herself... and they were barrels.

Mind piecing together exactly what this meant and exactly was attached to the _other end of the barrels_, she backpedalled, only to discover this was a pretty poor tactic when underwater. She was too far beneath the water; she would never get to the surface in time and flippers were definitely not designed for backpedalling. She felt, for the second time that day, sure she was going to die and this time it was very definitely going to be due to her own stupidity. She could win the Darwin award with this one...

Realising that she really did have no chance of reaching the surface before the barrels or shark, she took on another tactic instead. She swam towards the rapidly-rising items and positioned herself to the side of them. With the speed that the shark was rising – she could see its dark form somewhere below the barrels – the drums rushed past her and she grabbed the side of one it went. It dragged her up the next ten metres and broke the surface with enough force to throw Haru off. She scrabbled back towards it, knowing she had only seconds before the shark followed after its telltale sign, and pulled herself onto it. Now steady, she jumped from the barrel towards the boat, her hands grabbing the railings at the same moment the monster surfaced.

Muta and Toto were there at the side, already helping to pull her back over.

"I'm sorry – I know you told me to keep an eye out for the barrels, but I couldn't see them that far beneath the water," Toto apologised.

"I know, it's fine – just help me over!" She found footing on the lower rails and started to hoist herself up when something clamped onto her oxygen tanks. She screamed as she was almost wrenched from the boat. "Get it off! Get it off me!" She found herself twisted and slammed from side to side and quickly even screaming was too difficult.

While Muta was still clutching onto Haru's rapidly slipping wrist, Toto went for the tank harness. His talons tore apart the fabric and the oxygen tank came completely loose. The shark dropped back into the water with the container still stuck firmly between its teeth. Suddenly Haru found herself being helped over by more pairs of hands (or paws/feet) than just Toto and Muta's. She dropped onto the deck of the boat and collapsed onto her back.

Brody was livid.

"Do you enjoy near death experiences, Miss Haru? Is this all a big game to you? Because I've lost two good people already; I won't lose a third!"

Haru spluttered but this time she had significantly more breath than before. She tore the mask off and sat up. "A – A portal – there's a portal down there. Or, there was–" She broke off and took another look around her. Something had changed. "How are the lights on?"

"The electronics returned about thirty seconds ago," Muta grunted. "Don't know what caused it."

Baron, however, was looking thoughtful. "You said, Miss Haru, something about a portal?"

"Yes – it was large and round and I think it may have been an interworld portal, you know, the ones that lead to other worlds." Haru couldn't exactly remember which way round the terminology went, but it sounded correct. "But it closed–"

"How long ago?"

"About... about the same time the electronics must have returned, I guess."

Brody looked between the woman and Creation. "So you're suggesting that this portal had something to do with the electrical failure?"

Baron curtly nodded. "Indeed. If electronics remain in close range of a portal for even a short period of time, it can negate their power for as long as they are in range. If your boat hadn't been attacked here, all you would have registered is a slight blip in the ship's controls as you sailed over it. The effects are only temporary; as soon as the portal closes or you are out of range, everything reverts to normal."

"That means we can finally call for backup."

"Hey, I hate to break up this little celebration, but we're not out of hot water just yet." Quint was stood on the far edge of the boat's bow, staring out as the double barrels circled the modest vessel. "In case you've forgotten, we still have a very angry shark on our doorstep."

Brody muttered something that sounded like a hasty curse and rose to his feet, abruptly raising the gun to his shoulder and scouting the waters. Sure enough the two barrels were making a steady path around the boat. There was an almighty judder as the creature rammed into the side.

"Crafty devil's just going to attack our boat until we sink," Quint growled. "After that happens, we're going to be floating ducks. Well, you're not having me!" He peppered the water with shots, and now the attack on the boat became frenzied.

"Congratulations," Haru said bluntly. "You've just made it mad."

The boat was struck again and this time everyone had to grab something to steady themselves.

"Stop shooting the damn water!" Brody roared, and the boat was hit so hard that the starboard side toppled dangerously close to the water's edge.

Baron turned to Toto and leapt onto the back of his friend. "Quick, Toto, grab the remaining bait!"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"If you say so." Another hit almost sent Toto flying off the side of the boat rather than up, but he steadied himself just in time. Grabbing the bucket in his talons, he rose into the air and to the side of the vessel. "Now what?"

"Drop it!"

Toto released the bucket and its contents into the swirling, furious waters and quickly backtracked onto the relatively safety of the boat. The shark turned its attention away from the boat and, smelling the blood of the bait, surfaced there instead. In its jaws was the canister that Haru had lost, still stuck in its mouth.

Quint was already shooting at the creature, trying desperately to shot something that would make a difference, but the creature was so big that the wounds from the bullets didn't even slow the monster down. Now it was turning its attention back to the boat and the pesky humans that were aboard that tin can, and was returning to sink them.

Haru grabbed Quint's arm. "The tank!" she shouted. "Shoot the tank!"

"What?"

"Do you have any better ideas? Shoot it!"

"Why?"

"I haven't got time to explain. Just shoot it!"

He tried to pry her loose. "What would you know of hunting?" he growled. "I've taken down every giant predatory on this planet; I've killed lions, and tigers, and bears and have become the best of my game and I will NOT be told how to do my profession by a little _girl_!" He elbowed her sharply away and raised his weapon again.

And then the shark exploded.

Quint froze, the bullet still in his gun. He glared out to the open sea where the monster had seemingly magically, spontaneously, erupted.

Brody lowered his rifle; still smoking slightly from the fired bullet. "You should have shot the barrel."

ooOoo

Haru had never, in all her life, been so happy to return to solid ground as she was that day. Even if it meant taking another intraworld portal (which, thankfully, returned them to the Refuge and not another storm-wrecked boat) which was accompanied by (again) cats. After the incident in the Cat Kingdom, she couldn't quite bring herself to trust cats and portals, especially when together.

Regardless, they made it back to the Refuge in one piece and Haru collapsed soundly against the pillar, sitting down in the middle of the courtyard with a grateful sigh. "Well," she gasped after a moment, "that was exciting."

When there was no reply from the Bureau, she looked down to see Baron silently watching her. His eyes travelled to her arms, each of which carried bruising and scars from the past two adventures. Haru self-consciously pulled her sleeves over them.

"Baron? What is it?"

She noticed that Toto and Muta had retreated inside; this looked suspiciously like Baron had asked to speak with her alone – which usually meant serious or bad news, neither of which Haru felt particularly up to right now.

"Haru, you could have got killed today."

Was that what this was about?

"I know. But I didn't."

"Just because it didn't today, doesn't mean it won't one day."

"Well, of course it's going to happen one day," she reasoned. "We all die in the end."

"Haru, if you continue to come with us, you could die long before you should."

Now she could see where this was going and she quickly decided she didn't like it. "Baron–"

"You must understand that our missions are not safe and that if anything happens to you–"

"Baron, would you please just listen to me?"

"–then I would feel it was my fault and that you would be–"

"I would not–"

"–better off without us."

"–be better off without you."

They stared at each other, quite at a loss for words, and then Haru said, "Baron, I made my choice when I agreed to come with you to the Bird Kingdom – perhaps even a long time before that – and I know that it will be dangerous and that you won't always be there for me, but that's a chance I'm willing to take. You have given me the chance to see worlds and places I could only dream of and if that means I'll have to learn to adapt, then that's all the better. I am old enough to understand what I am accepting, Baron," she said, her words coming out with more calmness than either had been expecting, "and I should be allowed to make my choice. What happens to me will be my responsibility alone, and if you respect me, you should be able to see that." There was silence for another moment and then Haru added, much quieter than before, "I am stronger than you think."

"So you are," he murmured gently. "I'm sorry. I should have seen that from the last few days."

"So... can I stay?"

Baron nodded. "Only if you choose to."

"I do. I most certainly do."

Once again, her phone chose the most inopportune moment to ring. Haru blushed and, seeing the number, quickly answered it. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She rose to her feet and started in the direction of the Refuge's exit. "Michael? What are you calling for? Wait, that's the time?" A quick check of her watch sent her sprinting down the alleyway. "Shoot! I'm so, so sorry, Michael, I must have overslept – no, no I'll be there in five minutes – no, I'm not ill, I just... Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! I'm sorry, I completely forgot–"

Baron smiled weakly as he watched the brunette disappear around a corner.

Behind him, Toto and Muta crept out of the Bureau. "So?"

The cat figurine turned and his smile widened. "She's staying."

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by: **_**Jaws**_**. Written by Peter Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg.**

**References: **

_**The Wizard of Oz**_**. Written by Lyman Frank Baum and directed by Victor Fleming. **

**ooOoo**

**Next Story: **_**The Hound of the Bureau**_**.**

**Teaser**: _**There was the din of more men coming, but the man before them had eyes only for them. His fingers played over the trigger of the gun. "What hellhounds are these?" / "The game is afoot. 50.5667° N, 4.0000° W."**_ _** / "Dr Dawson, it was a monster of a gigantic hound!"**_


	5. The Hounds of the Bureau (Part 1)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 5: The Hounds of the Bureau (Part 1)**

It was midnight when the portal opened.

The Bureau had been quiet for a month since the shark attack, and life had begun to settle back to its usual, leisurely pace. While there had been no adventures on their doorstep, nor any clients knocking, Haru had still come calling and her visits had become a common occurrence. But tonight... tonight something was afoot.

Silently, carefully the portal opened in the second archway and a tall, dark figure stepped out. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but his nose and mouth, which were obscured by a thick scarf. His velvet, dark-brown coat was drawn close around him, the collar turned sharply up, and his hands were hidden by long leather gloves.

In the pale moonlight, he raised his head to the sky and regarded the star-studded blackness. His strangely-angular eyes became visible and they closed softly in content. He released a low breath and started out of the Refuge, and disappeared into the sleeping town.

Next from the portal came a trio – two monstrous hounds and something... something not quite human. Unlike the first traveller, they came through with noise, and crashing, and the overturning of several items to fall through the portal also. The dogs were frenzied; dazed and confused from their abrupt journey, and raced around the Refuge's courtyard. The objects that fell through the portal – a human-sized desk, with inks and flasks, and a cane – struck the cobbled ground and the glasses smashed and the woodwork splintered.

The portal closed as abruptly as it had come.

Baron opened his eyes. Standing at the large windows of the Bureau, he saw the shadows of the canine creatures fleeting from side to side, but the third individual was nowhere in sight. It was as if it had never been.

But now Baron was moving forward, shouting for Muta to awake while he went for the door. Even as he opened it, he saw the blue light of another portal activated – an intraworld portal – and the creatures disappear through it. He was shouting again now – calling for Toto to wake and for Muta to hurry up – but, by the time he reached it, the portal had closed.

He stood there amid the cracked desk and splattered inks and surveyed the empty archway.

ooOoo

The two great hounds fell into the long shadows of tall, standing stones set about in a circular fashion about them. Their dark paws sank into the soft, springy ground of moor and heather scuffed at their legs. They rounded in meandering loops in the stone circle, not entirely sure how or why they were there. It was dark, darker still from the absence of the city lights, save only for the faint electric glow of houses further out. But light was approaching; it came in leaps and bounds and with the ever-growing, ever-nearing beat of hoofs upon the soft turf. Howls and barks were heard now, as were the dangerous shout of man.

But the creatures, though familiar with the bloodthirsty howls of canines, didn't run. Not yet. This was a different world to them; new and alien and everything about this place was different. The air was thick with the smell of peat and bog, while the ground felt new beneath their paws and even sound carried differently over that open, lonely moor.

And the sounds were fast approaching now, drawing nearer to the huge black dogs – almost upon them now – and something sleek and red sped past them. They snapped their heads after it, smelling the stink of fear and adrenaline running off the fox. Its bushy tail disappeared over the ridge and it was gone.

From where the fox had come from, other canine forms began to appear. These were shorter-faced, snarling, baying abominations. Their eyes gleamed with the thrill of the chase, but upon coming across the two new hounds, they stopped. The black creatures nervously pawed the ground, smelling the aggression off the smaller dogs, but also sensing their hesitancy. Even with the adrenaline rush of the hunt, the dogs were wary of attacking anything so... huge as the hounds before them.

A man on horseback broke over the same hill, bringing his steed to a hasty stop. He regarded the massive monsters and his gun was instinctively brought before him. The creatures watched the man, staring down the barrel of the gun with little understanding as to its potential. There was the din of more men coming, but the man before them had eyes only for them. His fingers played over the trigger of the gun.

"What hellhounds are these?"

The gunshot split the air.

ooOoo

"So what do you think it was?" Haru knelt on the cobbled ground of the Refuge, washing away the worst of the ink stains while Toto helped to pick up the remaining chips of wood. "An attack, maybe?"

"We're not sure, but Baron doesn't think so," the bird answered. "All we do know is that something – a couple of _somethings_ – came through one portal and exited through another. We can't even say for sure whether the opening portal was from another world or this one, but we definitely know for sure that the exiting one was to another part of this world. Baron believes the creatures may have activated the portal shard beneath the archway by accident."

"So... all you need to do is open up the portal and go after them. Don't you have a '_repeat last portal_' option or something?" she asked.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Baron stood in the open doorway of the Bureau; this was the first time Haru had seen him that morning since arriving. He nodded toward the building and said, "Why don't you come in?"

"Well, I was just helping..."

"You've done quite enough. You too, Toto. Tea, Miss Haru?"

Seeing that she really wasn't being given an option, Haru made her way to the Bureau and eased her way through the double doors. "Yes, please." She gingerly sat on the same chest as before, trying her best not to knock anything. "You said that it's not that simple?" she prompted.

"Indeed. We have no way of knowing exactly where in this world the portal led, but we can be sure that the creatures are at large somewhere on this earth. Milk?"

Haru nodded. "So do you have a plan?"

"We have sent out messages to our various contacts, relaying what little information we have on the subject. Hopefully, one or more of them will have heard something in conjunction with this matter. Until then, we wait and listen."

Haru took the offered tea and sipped quietly as she surveyed the modest interior. Since her last visit, there were a few new additions; another desk – splintered and leaning heavily against the wall with only three functioning legs – was at the far side, while a wooden, white-painted cane lay in Baron's usual seat. She motioned to it with the slightest movement of her head. "Have you got a new cane, Baron?"

The Creation glanced back to the object left in his seat. "Despite the evidence, I have not." He retrieved the cane and passed it to Haru; it grew in the same instant she received it.

"Wait – how did you do that?"

"Size alteration spell. I shrank it down in the first place to allow me to move it."

Haru thought of her own situation. "Can you do the spell on living things?"

Her train of thought must have been obvious, for Baron answered, "Unfortunately, the spell only works on inanimate objects. The spark of life within a person – or Creation – renders the magic void. That cane you are holding," he added, briskly moving the conversation back to its origins, "came through the portal with the creatures. As did the bureau over there." He gestured to the three-legged desk. "It is the only clue as to the source of the creatures. What do you make of it?"

Haru ran her fingers along the breadth of the cane, rolling it over in her hand as she did so. "It's a smart cane," she remarked after a moment. "Nicely done, but scratched in places." She rubbed at the scarred marks along the wood. "Whoever owns it tried to cover up the damage with more paint though."

"Very well spotted." Baron retrieved the cane, whereupon it shrank back to an easy size. "Much like I had surmised. It doesn't, however, give us any further clue as to where the creatures came from."

"What makes you so sure they weren't just... I don't know... ordinary dogs?"

"They came through a portal, Chicky, what other proof do you need?" Muta grunted.

"Thank you, Muta." Baron took a seat in his red armchair, sparing a quick glance to the overweight cat before looking back to Haru. "As well as the rather... unusual circumstances in which they arrived – the cane and desk included in that – there is also the matter in their overall appearance. While they disappeared back through the archway portal before I could take a proper look, it was clear that they were much larger than your average hound. And, considering our past experiences with larger-than-average creatures, it seems wise to take precautions."

Haru quickly caught on. "You think this has something to do with the animal attacks," she breathed.

The Creation curtly nodded. "Indeed," he repeated. "We should not overlook any possible connections, especially since we may have another two monsters on our hands if this proves to be a repeat. Regardless," he added quietly, "there is nothing we can do. For now."

ooOoo

"So what exactly was Charles Rathville doing in the moors?" Doctor James Dawson shuffled the newspaper set on the desk before raising his eyes to the man before him. "It seems odd that a well-known, wealthy gentleman like him should be out on the heath at that time of night."

Doctor Mortimer was a tall, thin man, with a long nose like a beak, which shot out between two keen, grey eyes, set closely together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He was an amiable fellow, or so Dawson had gathered, but was unfortunately somewhat absent-minded in his recount.

"Charles Rathville was always one for the hunt, you see, Dr Dawson," Mortimer explained, and he ran his hands idly over one another as he spoke. Dawson ignored the mildly irritating habit and focused on the other man's words. "He was a man of strange habits, you understand, and it was not unknown for him to break loose the hounds during the night."

"Sounds like quite the character," Dawson muttered, but at that point there was a polite cough from behind him. It came from a figure sat across the room and seated in the shadows so not even the outline of the face could be seen. The cough was subtle, but enough to remind Dawson that his aim at this particular moment was to draw what information he could from the man. "And you say that he was killed during one of these... midnight hunts?"

"Yes – well, that is to say, torn apart..."

Dawson glanced back to the silent figure and then to Mortimer again. "You're saying he was murdered?"

"If murder can be attributed to a beast, then yes."

"A beast?" the doctor repeated. "Then it was a creature that did this to him?"

"Yes."

"Then why come here?" Even as Dawson spoke, he sensed the figure's attention wane; there was nothing here worth their time. "We are already on a case, so if it was nothing more than a creature – a stray dog, maybe – then I don't see what could possibly prompt you to think–"

Mortimer laughed, shaking his head. "You don't understand. The other men say it was unlike anything they'd ever seen–"

"Dr Dawson, it was a monster of a gigantic hound!"

Suddenly, the figure stood. "We'll take the case."

ooOoo

"...and the next thing I know, Tippi has unlatched her cage and is flying in circles above the poor customer's head!" Michael chortled at the memory and continued to poor tea. "At which point it turns out that Mrs Mason is mortally afraid of all and any birds and suddenly she's out of the place like a shot! It took us ten minutes to get Tippi back into her cage, and by then Mrs Mason was nowhere in sight. We dropped by the next day to make sure she was quite alright..." He passed Haru the cup of tea.

"After the bird attacks last month, I'm not too keen on them myself," Haru muttered as she accepted the drink. "What was she doing in the store if she's afraid of birds?"

"Picking up dog food, or trying to, anyway. It's not the worst situation we've had..."

"I think the escaping crickets can make it to the top of that particular list," Mr Banner added.

"Crickets?"

"Sure. We bring them in to feed the lizards – they're alive and kicking and, occasionally, escaping. People can handle flying birds; they're not so keen on escaping crickets."

"Do you remember the time someone brought a tarantula in?"

"What?" Haru laughed and leant into the conversation. "Are you serious? A real tarantula?"

"As large as life – and, unfortunately, that's pretty damn large. The man said he was looking after it for a friend, so he brought it in to see if we had any advice."

"Did you?"

"Well, only so much as Google would provide. Spiders aren't exactly our speciality."

"Good grief, you sound like you've had some incidents here," the brunette laughed.

She leant back into her seat and her gaze was drawn to the window. Tea with the Banners had become a habit over the last month; more often than not, she would stay for a drink after the pet shop closed and wile away an hour or two talking over tea. It had become a blessed slice of normality in the craziness of the Bureau. Not that the Bureau had taken up any cases recently; it had been days since the creatures had appeared and, just as mysteriously, disappeared. She was starting to think that it was a dead-end case. She glanced into her mug and found that she had come to the end of her drink.

"I appear to have finished my tea – I hope you don't mind if I pour myself another cup?"

Michael shrugged and motioned lightly to the kitchen side. "Not at all. Help yourself."

She was just easing the kettle from its stand when a tapping sound was emitted from the nearest window. She snapped her head abruptly to the side and, in the same moment, the kettle slipped from her grasp. She yelped and jumped back as it crashed to the floor.

"Haru? Haru, are you okay?" Michael was already beside her. "The water didn't scald you, did it?"

"No, I'm fine. I just – something just startled me, that's all." She snatched a look to the window, where Toto was still worriedly hovering. She made a hasty motion that hopefully conveyed that she was fine and would be down as soon as possible before returning her attention to the two anxious Banners. "Seriously, it didn't catch me; I was quick enough to move, but – oh, I _am_ sorry about your kettle!"

"Don't be," Michael returned stubbornly. "You haven't damaged it and, anyway, the main worry is your safety. Are you sure you're not injured? It looked like the kettle caught you as it fell–"

"Sure I'm sure." She made to move away, but as she did so, her sleeve shifted, revealing just enough of her scars to catch Michael's attention. He caught her wrist and tugged the sleeve just far enough to bring the bottom of the scars into the light.

"Haru..."

"They're just old injuries, Michael, nothing big–"

"Where did they come from?"

"Remember the bird attacks last month? Well, I may have had one or two come after me..." The worst of the injury had faded now, but there were still three long, noticeable marks on her otherwise unblemished skin. She twisted her wrist free from his hold. "It's nothing. I'm fine now."

"Haru, you have bruising on your other arm too..."

She self-consciously pulled the other sleeve down. "Accident. I fell." She looked to the two men and added, defensively, "You know what I'm like! I probably just walked into something or fell or something... I don't really remember." The bruising from the fall from the boat had taken longer than usual to heal, but she guessed that was because it had been deep bruising. At least it was fading now; originally it had turned yellow, then blotchy purple, before turning the alarmed red it was now – passing it off as a simple fall to Hiromi had been difficult, but eventually the lighter brunette had realised Haru wasn't going to back down from her story and let the issue go. She wasn't up for another debate like that from Michael.

"Haru, you really should have seen someone about this–"

"It's just a bruise and, anyway, I had it checked out." Toto was still hovering by the window. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got a couple of friends I need to see."

"You didn't mention it before."

"I had forgotten," she lied. She smiled to her friend. "I'm fine, Michael. There's nothing to worry about."

His smile was weak in comparison. "But I do, Haru. I do worry about you."

However, Haru had disappeared out of the house and was already at the shop's entrance. She started jogging in the general direction of the Refuge while Toto appeared beside her. "So?" she asked. "What's the news?"

"We have a message."

ooOoo

"_The game is afoot. 50.5667° N, 4.0000° W_." Haru looked up from the thin strip of paper that she had been handed and glanced across at the members of the Bureau. Muta was lounging on the sofa, Toto was perched on the balcony, and Baron was stood between the desk and the cabinets. He watched her re-read the message. "What is it?"

"That, Miss Haru, is the telegraph we received in the late hours of this afternoon," Baron said.

"The caller didn't leave a name."

"They didn't have to, Chicky," Muta grunted. "There's only one person who would start a message like that."

"Indeed," Baron agreed.

"And it means?"

"It means that they have located the creatures we were looking for."

"Bit vague, isn't it? It could mean anything."

"Perhaps, but in this particular case, I believe that the intent of the message was to bring news of where exactly we might find the hounds. You see the numbers at the end? They're co-ordinates; hopefully they should take us straight to what we seek."

"So... we can just open a portal and hop through then? We're ready to go?"

"We're ready when you are."

"Well, I guess there's no time like the present. Will the... um, the portal be as unreliable as before?" she asked after a dubious moment.

"Unfortunately so."

"Suppose there's nothing to be done about that, huh?"

"Afraid not."

"Thought so. Alright then – let's go!"

ooOoo

Haru was still having no luck with the portals – she knew that it was unavoidable when Creations and the Refuge were concerned, but it didn't make her any happier to step through the portal and into... bog.

She sank a good two feet down, her trousers instantly soaking up the mud and her shoes disappearing straight into the marsh. She yelped and tried to reach some solid ground, only to find the earth sink beneath her every step. She turned around, looking to see whether Baron and Muta were struggling with the same difficulties only to find... nothing. There was no sign of the feline Creation, or even the fat cat – and there was certainly no portal in sight.

She swore quite colourfully and lumbered towards the brambles that were hopefully situated on more permanent ground. "Stupid, unreliable, faulty portals!" she spluttered, and she sank another foot with her words. "Of course it dropped me on re-entry – it did it in the Cat Kingdom, so why wouldn't it do the same here? Why, if I ever get the chance, I'll–" She never finished her empty threat though, for that second the ground gave way and the mud rose to her waist. "Damn."

She stopped struggling and regarded the rather messy mess she had – literally – fallen into. She wasn't about to panic – not yet – but she was quickly beginning to entertain what could happen if she didn't find dry ground soon or someone else found her. Seeing as she had had little success in finding solid footing so far, she opted for the latter being more likely. "Hello? Is anyone out there? Baron? Toto? Muta? _...Anybody?"_ Then, for good measure, she added, "I could really do with some assistance here!" She sank another half foot. "Immediately!"

"Hang on! I'm coming!"

The voice wasn't anyone's she recognised, but under current circumstances, she was happy to take what she could get. "There's not much to hang on to here!" she shouted back. In the back of her head, she remembered a bit of advice about sinking – something about lying on your back – or was that for quicksand? Either way, the mud was high enough now for such a tactic to be near impossible. "Not to seem rude, but could you hurry it up?"

"Sorry, sorry!" A man scooted into sight and halted to a stop at the state Haru was currently in. He gave her a quick look-over then whistled. "That's quite a mess you got yourself into–"

"Oh, I know that." Haru raised her hands and waved them uselessly in the air. "Some assistance, please?"

"Oh, right." He stepped forward, only to find the ground sank beneath him. He hastily backtracked and tried again from another spot, only to find the same situation. He looked back to Haru. "How did you even get that far?" he demanded.

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The man edged round the side and finally found some footing that wasn't about to drop him in the same mess that Haru was in. With both parties leaning towards each other, he eventually caught her wrist and began to drag her towards him. When she was nearer, he secured his grip around her arms and started to hoist her out.

"Thank – ow!" Haru winced as his hands gripped around the bruising and scars on her lower arms.

"Sorry – did I hurt you?"

"It's just some old injuries." Now far enough out to start dragging herself free of the muck, she pried the man's hands loose and eased herself the rest of the way out. A moment later she collapsed onto the springy heather of the moorland. "Thank you."

The man sat down beside her and now she saw that he was smartly dressed – or, at least, had been until he had waded several feet into mud to retrieve a young woman stupid enough to get herself stuck in bog. "I take it you're not a local then?"

"No." Haru looked over at the man's smart attire – the suit and the waistcoat and the now-brown leather shoes, and added, "Are you?" He wasn't a particularly tall man, but his build was sturdy enough to make up for that; in his early thirties, his dark eyes were alert and smiling but they also carried with them the quiet assurance of his bearing which indicated a gentleman. As he smiled, Haru found herself smiling back.

"I hope to be. Although I admit that my clothing was far from perfect for a leisurely stroll through the moor. Come along." He got to his feet and offered a gloved hand to Haru. "Where are you staying?"

"Oh, I... I just arrived. I haven't organised staying anywhere just yet."

"Is that so? In that case, I feel obliged to offer you come back with me and we'll see if we can get you cleaned up. If that's alright with you, of course," he smoothly added.

Haru glanced back across the empty moor and seeing neither a crow nor a cat in sight, she nodded. As they started to walk across the heath, she said, "I feel I really ought to know the name of the man who rescued me."

That same smile returned. "It's Henry. Henry Rathville."

ooOoo

The rest of the Bureau had considerably better luck in coming out of the portal in comparison to Haru. They stepped out and found themselves in the corner of an empty cave which would have been fine, had Haru not been missing.

"Man, I hate those things." Muta padded out of the portal and sat on the stone floor. "They give me the jitters."

"I'm surprised the portal can carry your fat weight, butterball. With that kind of girth, I'm surprised it didn't drop you."

"Why, I oughta–"

"Now, now, it's not the time for such bickering." Baron raised one hand to check that his hat was still in place – it was – and turned to face the swirling blue mass. When no one else came though, he turned back to his friends. "Where's Miss Haru?"

"Isn't she here?"

"Maybe she was the first out," Toto calmly reasoned. "Perhaps she's already out of the cave."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Hey, if the portal dropped her, it won't be far," Muta remarked. "It never is."

"Nonetheless, I think that you, Toto, should make a quick sweep of the moor. See if you can spot Miss Haru."

"Okay, Baron."

"So what do we do? Are we going to sit around and wait for birdbrain to come back?"

"It would seem the wisest option."

"Fine. Wake me when something's happening." Muta curled up and instantly began snoring.

Baron shook his head tiredly and proceeded to the cave entrance. Before him lay the expanse of the moor, spread out across the horizon in purple-heather glory, with the tors and rock formations jutting out from the otherwise smooth skyline. Further out as the glint of houses, built safely away from the dangers of the fell. He stayed watching there, itching to join the search for Haru, but knowing that two of them being lost would be of no help to anyone. Eventually – after much too long, he felt – Toto reappeared.

"What is it, Toto? Do you bring news of Miss Haru?"

"Unfortunately not, but I've found a friend!" the crow cried back. Indeed, the form of a man now appeared rising over the crest of a hill and proceeded to approach the feline Creation. "You remember Dr Dawson, of course?"

The young man, in his early thirties and strongly built, came to the mouth of the cave. Baron nodded. "Indeed. Pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Doctor."

"Same to you, Baron. I only wish our meeting could be under better circumstances."

"True. What brings you out here?"

"The same thing as you. You received the telegram then?"

"Yes. We came as soon as we heard."

"Baker thought that you might fail to arrive at the co-ordinates you were given, so I was advised to make my way to the moors in case the portals proved... difficult." Dawson's smile indicated that this was a common issue with the Bureau. "I see that was the case."

"Ah yes, speaking of the detective..."

"Baker is still in the capital – sorting out a few other cases before coming up here. I'm acting as the eyes and ears until then."

"I would ask after the details of this case, but right now we have another dilemma on our hands," Baron said. "You see, we came here with a young woman – a Miss Haru – who appears to have been dropped upon re-entry."

"She should be in the vicinity then," Dawson replied. "If she was lucky, she might have been dropped into the village, and one can only hope she didn't find herself in the moor..."

"You must have travelled across the moors to reach us; did you see any sign of a young woman?"

"No, but the moors are a large place. I could easily have missed her." Dawson paused, evidently considering whether to add more of his thoughts to the mix, but then decided instead to opt for, "I'm sure we'll find her in the village once we make it back. Miss Haru is a capable woman, I assume?"

"She has shown that she can handle most dilemmas that are thrown her way," Baron answered. "Doctor, is there something worrying you concerning Miss Haru?"

"I will be blunt with you–"

"That would be appreciated."

"–in that the moors are a dangerous place. For one, there is the mire."

Muta – who appeared to have woken at some point in this exchange – padded over to the others. "Mire?" he echoed. "Isn't that a swamp?"

"It's a particular kind," Dawson agreed, "and it's found all about this moor. If your Miss Haru was unfortunate enough to stumble into the wrong path, then I'm afraid there's nothing that can be done."

Baron looked sharply to the young man, and then to Toto. "Are you sure you saw no sign of her, Toto?" he demanded.

"None."

"I would be reassured if you scouted again," he replied tightly. There was silence while Toto flew off and Baron forced himself to relax. There was little he could do to help and there were other matters that he could attend to at this moment. He returned his gaze to Dawson. "From the message, I assume there is news of our hounds?"

"Well, hound now. Singular." Dawson sighed and glanced over his shoulder, back to the safety of the village gleaming away in the distance. "If you'd be happy, I'd prefer to tell this while we walk. Darkness will be settling in soon and I'd rather not be travelling through this place in the dark. If Toto brings back no news of your companion by the time we get back, we can gather together a search team to find her." He offered a flat palm to the Creation. "If you don't mind?"

"Not at all." Baron stepped onto the hand and was gently lifted to Dawson's shoulder, where he sat.

"Oh, so I have to walk?"

"Sorry, friend," Dawson apologised, "but I'm afraid you are significantly heavier than Baron."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Man, I get sick of being told that. Of course I'm heavier than him; I'm a cat, not a ruddy toothpick."

As Dawson started to walk across the boggy ground, Baron spoke up. "So, what exactly is the situation here?"

"Do you want the short version or the long?"

"We have a long walk ahead of us; I think the latter will suffice."

"Well, a couple of days back a Dr Mortimer came to Baker and myself with a case involving a most bizarre animal attack. You see, Sir Charles Rathville was a well-respected gentleman in these parts, but the family had a bit of a strange back-story. Legend has it that Charles' grandfather was a devil of a man and that one day he took a fancy to a farmer's daughter. Being in his position of power, he simply took the young woman with the intent to make her his own whether she liked it or not, and locked her away in his house. However, the girl managed to escape by way of an open window and ivy, and fled across the moor. Sir Hugo flew into a rage when he discovered this, and took after her with his hounds and horses, with his friends following not far behind. However, when they lost sight of Sir Hugo, they heard the most bloodcurdling of howls and came upon Sir Hugo, dead. The young girl was nowhere in sight – presumed dead or lost on the moors – but stood before the slaughtered Sir Hugo was a demonic hound, with blazing red eyes and huge, glittering fangs. Ever since then, it has been told that the Rathville family has been haunted by dogs of the devil and all Rathvilles who inherit the estate die a sudden or brutal death. Well? Do you find it interesting?"

Muta yawned. "Maybe to a collector of fairytales. It sounds like bogwash to me."

"I'm afraid I do not understand what bearing this has on this case," Baron confessed. "I would agree with Muta on this matter; it sounds like nothing more than fanciful folktales.

"I would have agreed with you until two days. Two days ago, Dr Mortimer came to us with the news that Sir Charles Rathville had been killed–"

"Understandably tragic–"

"–by a gigantic hound!"

At those words, a shudder passed through Baron. "A hound, you say?"

"A monster, if the eyewitnesses are to be believed," Dawson insisted.

"Eyewitnesses can be mistaken."

"There have been reports of a hound on the moors ever since."

"Hysteria."

Dawson shook his head. "We have proof. You see, Sir Charles was hunting at night when he came across the creature – two, in fact – and I believe his fear of the Rathville curse prompted his actions, for he shot down one of the monsters. The second was too quick and tore his throat out, but we have the remains of the hound Sir Charles shot. We are dealing with a monster, Baron."

"Do you still have the body?"

"It's been a few days, but we kept it in the basement and it's in remarkably good condition. Whether that's a blessing or a curse, though, you'll have to see for yourself. If there had been only one monster, then that would have been alright, but it is the second, escaped creature that is causing havoc on the moors."

"Has it killed since?"

"Stray sheep and cattle, but no humans. However, Sir Charles' nephew, a Mr Henry Rathville, has arrived to take over his uncle's state and there is general fear that if this is the demon hound of the curse then his life is in danger."

"Doctor, we believe that, whatever creature we are dealing with, it is _not_ a curse-sent hound," Baron sighed.

"You haven't seen the body. It's... it's unlike anything I've ever seen."

"Nonetheless, the creature came from another world and we have seen reports of similar animal attacks in the past few months. If it has come from the same source, then not only is this Mr Henry Rathville in danger, but so is anyone who crosses this creature. You are lucky the fatality count is as low as one so far. However..." Baron paused in his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"If someone would be benefited from Mr Rathville's death, then it is possible that someone may try to use the recently resurrected belief in the curse to make an attempt on his life. Who is next in line to inherit?"

"Some... distant relative, I believe. As far as the records show, the nearest living relative after Henry Rathville lives on the other side of the globe. It is doubtful that they have any part in this."

"At least we can rule out that possibility."

A bloodcurdling howl rose from the moors and Dawson stopped in his tracks. Muta walked into him.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry, sorry, I just... Did you hear that?"

"I did, and I don't like it," Baron said. "We could really do with Toto right now."

As if summoned, the crow Creation chose that moment to fly back over the group. "Baron! I still can't find Haru, but there's something else – something big coming your way!"

"What is it? Is it the hound?"

Toto shook his head. "I... I'm not sure! It's certainly big and of canine descent but I... I didn't get a proper look at it." There was another howl; this one closer and unearthly enough to send shivers down Dawson's spine. "All the same, I think you should run. Run!"

The creature appeared on the brow of a tor, its outline blurred against the fading evening light but clear enough to see the long, canine jaws. It stayed for just a moment on the rocky outcrop, stood on all fours with its padded feet dug into the ground beneath, and then it ran. It flew across the marshy ground, racing so fast that its feet barely skimmed the ground – and it was going for them.

Dawson was backing away now, his hands moving to his side in search of the gun that wasn't there. Cursing, he reached for the only other weapon he had on him and drew out the dagger – a laughably tiny blade in comparison to the monster that was coming upon them.

The creature was closer now, and as it advanced it began to raise its front paws and... and ran solely on its back legs. The image was cruelly human and yet... grotesquely not, all at the same time. Its eyes glowed a hellish red, staring down on them with the thrill of victory – with the desire to rip flesh from bone and the excitement of the moment drawing ever nearer. Dawson's language worsened and his free hand was still searching for the gun that was most definitely not on his person. Baron was struggling to stay on his shoulder, and at the same time was shouting instructions to the Bureau – for Muta to run, for Toto to get help – but the words were lost in the chaos of the moment.

A gunshot rang through the air.

The creature stopped. It stared at something beyond them and then, as simple as that, fled.

Dawson's breath slowed. He sheathed the dagger and turned to face their saviour. Upon the rocks, a lone figure stood.

**ooOoo**

**Teaser**: _**"Begin your tale. There's a chill in the air and the wind is howling through the eaves. Tell us of monsters." / "Our very selves are rooted in our being. Upset that equilibrium and all sense is ripped from the individual – they go mad.**_ _**Miss Haru, if someone is wilfully playing with the rules of nature, then we are dealing with a madman." / He tilted his head to one side and it gave a sickening crack. He flexed his fingers and his jaw; a double crack jolted through the air. Huge fangs split from his mouth. It curved into a cruel, hungry smile. "Run."**_


	6. The Hounds of the Bureau (Part 2)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 6: The Hounds of the Bureau (Part 2)**

"You missed!"

A sigh came from the figure and it stepped down from the rocks. "For your information, Dawson, I _never_ miss." Now that it had stepped away from the setting sun, more than just the mere silhouette of the individual could be seen. She was a tall, beautiful lady in her late twenties; slim and elegant, her face was finely cut while her dark eyes betrayed a refined kind of pride. But when she smiled, her eyes gleamed and a strange sort of sensitivity could be spotted. "But to be caught unawares without your gun, James... I thought I had taught you better."

Dawson smiled and inclined his head to the newcomer. "Good to see you, Baker. But I thought you were busy with the other cases–"

"Oh, they were simple. Simple and dull and dreadfully easy to solve," the woman sighed, returning her own weapon back to the holster hidden beneath the long black coat. She motioned sharply to the empty air as if that could express the boredom she felt. "Nothing quite like the mystery of the beasts of the mire though. Good evening, Baron."

"Good evening, Miss Baker. I see you are still active in the field."

"As are you." She glanced to Toto, and then back to the cat Creation. "Have you lost someone? A human, perhaps?"

"Yes, but how did you–?"

"A rudimentary guess, Baron. I spotted Toto flying overhead a while back – although I fancy he did not spot me for I had stopped by the stone circle and was stood beneath one of the arches – and it seemed that he was searching for someone or something. Knowing that you had probably arrived only recently, and also knowing that the portals are less stable when dealing with Creations, it was easy to deduct that someone had been dropped upon re-entry and so this was the focus of Toto's search. Considering the fact that portals tend to drop the heaviest individual of the party – and that Muta is with you – the most likely probability was that the lost person was an unfortunate human." Baker explained her deductions with blunt clarity, as if bored by facts that she felt should have been obvious. "Did you like my message?"

"_The game is_ _afoot_," Baron recited. "It is certainly your style. Now, about our missing person–"

"If they're lucky, they'll be in the village. If not, they'll be in the moor, but if they have any intelligence they should be heading for the village regardless. If they're lost to the moor... well, sorry, Baron, but there's nothing you can do now."

Baron was mute for a moment. Then, "I know," he said, "but I had to ask."

"Understandable." Baker glanced back to the twinkling lights of the village and indicated towards that direction with a brisk nod of her head. "And now we must be going. Even I would not like to be caught wandering the moors when night falls."

ooOoo

Dusk was gathering and the silent village had receded in on itself when the small trope came upon the Rathville estate. Like their walk through the village only minutes before, the lights were on in the house, but barely a soul could be seen outside.

"People are scared," Baker only said when Baron commented on this detail. "There have long been stories of creatures on these moors and Sir Charles' death has awakened those tales."

"Should they be scared?" Toto asked.

"You saw the creature. You decide for yourself."

At that point, a man in his early thirties opened the door to the weary travellers. "Yes? How may I help?"

Dawson stepped forward, making his way around Baker who had been stood before him. "Henry – it's me, James Dawson. You remember? Dr Mortimer brought me from the capital."

"Oh, yes. Yes, of course." He looked to Baker and seemed... struck speechless by her beauty. He quickly regained the use of his voice. "And who is this?"

"Darcy Baker." The woman offered a hand, aloof at the response she had received. It seemed this was a common reaction. "Dr Mortimer initially sent for my services, but I had several matters to attend to at the time, so I sent Dawson in my stead. I arrived this evening."

Henry momentarily lost his voice again, but finally managed, "You're the great detective? I knew that Mortimer had sent for you, but I had never realised that you were..."

"A woman?" she supplied. She sighed, slipped her gloves off and stepped inside, moving straight past the dithering Rathville. "Yes, I get that a lot. Now that I am here, there are several matters to attend to. First is the corpse of the hound Sir Charles' shot – for I feel many of the answers we seek are there – second is the issue of the lost Miss Haru and third is the matter of good food and a hot bath."

"I'm sorry, did you say Miss Haru?"

Baker paused in her inspection of the house about her and turned; at the same moment Baron said, "Do you have news?"

Henry Rathville stared at the little figurine perched on Dawson's shoulder that, until now, he had somehow managed to miss. He quickly regained his manners and acted as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about the foot-high dapper cat. "I found her sinking into the moor's mire and managed to pull her free. Having nowhere to go, she agreed to come back with me and she is currently upstairs with my wife, changing into something dry."

Baron relaxed. "She's safe."

"In fact," Henry added, "here she comes now."

A tentative Haru appeared at the top of the mansion's grand stairway, dithering in a long, blue evening dress. Her eyes passed over the Bureau at first – failing to spot them and so focusing on the new humans instead – but then her gaze found Baron still seated atop Dawson's shoulder. Picking up the hem of her borrowed dress, she descended the stairs at a precariously hasty pace. "Baron!" Now she spotted the other two members of the Bureau. "Toto... Muta... You all made it!"

"I take it you are well acquainted with our visitors, Miss Haru?" Henry Rathville politely inquired. He glanced back up the stairway, where another young lady was descending, with considerably more grace than the previous woman. "Good evening, Beryl."

"Yes – well, partly," Haru answered. Her eyes locked once again on the two unfamiliar humans. "Although I don't believe we've met before..."

"Dr James Dawson, and this is–"

"Darcy Baker," Baker said, cutting across Dawson to make her own introduction. "The detective."

Haru's eyes widened for a moment. "Henry mentioned a great detective, but he spoke as if you were a... well, nevermind." She abruptly shook her head and added, "You're here about the hounds then, aren't you?"

"Miss Haru," Baron spoke up, "what do you know of the creatures?"

"Family curse, deceased uncle, great beasts seen on the moor..." Haru ticked off each point on her fingers as she mentioned them. "Some detective called up from the capital, one of the hounds killed and currently in the basement... Henry covered most of the basics for me."

"Then I see we need waste no time on explanations," Baker said. "In which case, I think we should attend to the first matter I mentioned earlier – the beast that Sir Charles killed."

"Are you sure, Miss Baker?" Henry asked. "It is a bloody affair; are you certain that you would be able to...?"

The woman gave a sudden, coarse laugh that seemed utterly at odds with her refined features, and fixed the young noble with an icy, if amused, look. "If I had been a man, Rathville, the question would never have passed your mind. Nonetheless, your gender stereotypes are of no matter to me. I assure you, I am quite capable of dealing with death. I take it this is the way to the basement." She started off across the hall, towards a modest door beneath the stairwell. "Come along, Dawson."

Henry Rathville looked quite nonplussed by the woman's response, but made to follow after her and the doctor. "Beryl, dear, if you could lead Miss Haru to the lounge; I'm sure we'll be back in a few minutes..."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I'm coming too," Haru said.

This was enough to stop the others.

"What?" the brunette demanded. "I'm involved in this now too, you know. Darcy was right; being a woman doesn't make me any weaker than you lot. Feminine sensitivities and all that rot... We're in the 21st Century, for crying out loud, not the 19th."

Henry looked to Baron and Baker, the latter of whom merely shrugged. It was of no consequence to the detective. Baron, however, nodded, so the young noble only sighed and motioned for Haru to follow them.

The basement was, as expected, dark and dingy and Haru began to feel out of place in the evening dress borrowed from Beryl Rathville. It was dark and dingy even with electric lighting; in fact the lamps only cast the shadows into longer, more distorted forms. Haru picked up the bottom of her skirts and carefully made her way down the stone steps dipped by the countless feet that had shuffled their way along that same flight of stairs. They came through one doorway, through a corridor and finally through yet another wooden doorway, coming to the final resting place of the great beast.

Henry took the edges of the sheet and pulled it away to reveal the creature's corpse.

Everyone's eyes were first drawn to the head. The long, canine face with the elongated jaw now slack with death and the wide, unstaring eyes. Huge fangs glittered in the light that seemed dim in the stonewalled basement, but it was very definitely the head of a hound. But the eyes... the eyes that were fast degrading to death still seemed... off. Haru couldn't pin it down – didn't know whether it was just the effects of death – but something didn't quite fit. She glanced away, unnerved by those empty orbs and she, like the rest, appeared to have been stunned into silence.

"So?" Henry eventually prompted. "What do you think?"

"It seems sad," Haru said. She felt, rather than saw, everyone's attention shift to her. She reddened. "I don't know why I think that but... I can't help but feel sorry for it. It seems... like it was scared. I know it's a beast, but it seems... I don't know... human, somehow."

"It killed my uncle, Miss Haru."

"From what I heard, the other creature killed your uncle and only after this one had been shot," Haru retorted.

"Are you implying that my uncle–"

"Killed without cause? Yes, yes I am."

"Regardless," Dawson interrupted, "we don't know the exact details of the deaths, so it's no good second-guessing the events of that night. Baker," he added, turning to his companion, "what do you make of it?"

Baker apparently had no qualms about approaching or touching the creature, for already she was looking over the corpse with little reservation. She ran her hands over the creature's head, opening its jaws and inspecting the fangs, moving her gaze to the beast's limbs and experimentally shifting them. She became especially interested in the back legs, easing the joints and inspecting the clawed feet. Dawson was evidently accustomed to her antics, for he made no attempt to interrupt her. Eventually she stood back and up and faced the watching onlookers.

"It is indeed a hound – when considering the creature we encountered on the moor today, it seems quite interesting that this specimen should show only the ability to run only like a hound – but there are a few discrepancies. The teeth show differences from your regular dog, in fact they bear more resemblance to a humans, if it wasn't for the disproportional canines. It is larger than any dog I have encountered before, but the most startling aspect would be the feet." Here, Baker brought the foreleg forward, bringing the long paws into view. "There appears to be significant separation of skin between the toes, while the metacarpals have been shortened and the carpals elongated giving it the appearance, almost, of–"

"Of a human hand," Baron breathed.

Baker nodded. "Indeed."

"But this... this doesn't make any sense," Rathville insisted. "What – exactly – are you trying to say?"

"I don't know what I'm trying to say," the detective answered calmly. "All I am doing is reporting the facts. Since this is an unfamiliar situation, I cannot deduct clearer answers until more facts are in hand. Nonetheless, I think it would be a safe bet to assume that this is no ordinary creature we are dealing with."

The sound of a gong could barely be heard in the depths of the basement, but the noise just about reached the onlookers.

Darcy Baker sighed and smiled. "Perfect timing. It sounds to me like dinner is served."

No one else echoed the sentiment.

ooOoo

Two guests had arrived at the Rathville estate while the rest had been inspecting the beast; a Mr Jack Stapleton – a bookish schoolmaster of the local school – and the same Dr John Mortimer who had bid the detective come in the first place. Henry appeared to be well acquainted with both and heartily invited them to join for dinner.

"Before I travelled away to the states," Henry told his many guests over dinner, "I used to come to this part of the world often. My uncle would invite me to stay and I spent a great many summers being a public nuisance to the locals." Henry laughed the memory of his childhood and motioned to the young teacher. "Jack was one of the local boys here whom I had the greatest pleasure of befriending during those years."

"You were here so often, Henry, that you near became one of the locals," Jack replied. "I'm sure there'll be many the familiar face you see about the village. Word has already got out that you are the relative who inherited Sir Charles' fortune."

"Well, it is a village. I expected nothing less. Now, my friend, why don't you do us the honour of telling us one of your folktales. Jack here is one of the best storytellers I've ever met – or, at least, he was when I last met him. Tell us the story of the Rathville curse – you always liked telling that one." He smiled and leant in. "Begin your tale. There's a chill in the air and the wind is howling through the eaves. Tells us of monsters."

The fair-haired teacher looked bashful under the praise, but Haru chose that moment to join the conversation. "Rathville curse?" she echoed. "But... haven't we already heard this tale–?"

"I expect Henry told you the official version," Stapleton said. "Maiden taken from her home, runs away, and later Sir Hugo is found dead with his throat torn out and the girl missing – am I correct?" The question came so matter-of-factly, that the reference to the brutality of that fabled night sounded almost casual. He saw the confirmation in the other guests' eyes. "And while, to some of you the stories of demonic hounds may sound... fanciful... there is yet another side to this tale. It is said that every full moon a howling rings through these moors and the next morning livestock is found ripped apart, devoured. To townsfolk, the tales are often cast aside as mere ramblings of superstitious farmers and small villages, but there are many people who swear on their lives that they have seen creatures... inhuman, beastly creatures out on the moor. Until Sir Charles' death, people had begun to forget, but now the tale has been revived and belief has renewed."

"And how does this link in with the Rathville curse?" Dr Mortimer inquired. "This sounds like nothing more than tales to cover the work of thieves."

"T-That is what many people like yourself say," Stapleton stuttered. He pushed his glasses back onto his face, but even as he stumbled over the words, a storyteller fervour slipped into his gaze and he became entangled in the story he was weaving. "And I doubt any proof will convince you otherwise, but, according to some stories, there's another side to the Rathville curse. They say that the girl Sir Hugo took was not any ordinary maiden, but a woman who becomes a monster – the monster of the moors."

Now Baker leant forward, her attention caught. "A werewolf?"

"Oh, good grief, don't be ridiculous!" Mortimer cried. "Werewolves? What kind of gullible fools do you take us for?"

Baker snapped her gaze to the man and the ice in her eyes was enough to shut him up. "You came to us because you believed there was some weight to this curse, is that not true? After all, the supernatural is my forte and you would have found yourself another detective if you had not harboured some conviction in the tale."

"But, werewolves–"

"Therefore, Dr Mortimer, I suggest you either quieten down or leave the room. Not all of us are as cynical as yourself. Please, Stapleton, continue your narrative."

The teacher glanced between her and the indigent form of Dr Mortimer and, when it appeared the latter wasn't about to get to his feet, picked up where he had left off in his story. "They say that Sir Hugo didn't just lock the girl away, but that he... impregnated her. After that, she managed to make her escape – not through the window-and-ivy combination that is so commonly told, but through her desperation, she jumped – she jumped and, through her powers landed without injury. She ran. Sir Hugo pursued. Eventually she tired of running and turned on him instead. You see," Stapleton said, and he paused as he locked his gaze on the people hanging to his tale, "the monster of legend that killed Sir Hugo was none other than the very maiden he had been chasing. With the moon's power, she became a demon hound and ripped him apart and ever since then it is said that the woman has exacted her revenge on every Rathville heir in vengeance for what wrong was done her."

ooOoo

"Do you believe that story?" Haru sat perched on the edge of the armchair, situated in one of the mansion's many lounges where just herself and the Bureau had retired to after dinner. "I mean, curses and werewolves and whatnot... Could it be true?"

"Baker seems to have taken an interest, which indicates that there is something of importance in the tale," Baron remarked.

"Oh, her. I don't mean to be... nosy, but who exactly is she? There's something... different about her. Is she just a detective and how do you know her anyway? She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would need help from the Cat Bureau." It was hard to imagine Darcy Baker needing help from anyone.

"She was one of our earliest cases."

"She was a client?"

Baron smiled. "Not exactly. In fact, her first meeting with the Bureau was... rather strained, if I remember correctly."

"Wait a moment... One of your earliest cases? But she's... what, in her twenties? She can't be that much older than me."

"She's about three-hundred and twenty, I believe. Toto?"

"Three-hundred and twenty-three," the crow confirmed.

"What?"

"Well, we try to keep good records of our clients and past companions, especially if we chance a meeting with them again–"

"No, I mean..." Haru whistled. "Seriously, I need to know what moisturiser she uses..."

"Three-hundred or so years ago, we received reports that a creature had been allegedly luring men to their deaths in the sea and a client came to us for help. We complied and discovered that the source was a half-siren who had recently discovered her powers. Sirens are nasty pieces of work; beautiful, alluring, and severely bloodthirsty they become a danger to anyone they meet, especially men. Half-sirens are doubly dangerous if not tempered; they, like their full-bloodied sisters, have long, apparently immortal, lifespans but often have no idea how to live with their powers. Sirens are not especially known for their parenting skills."

"Darcy is a siren? But I didn't... She... She doesn't look..."

"Like one?" Baron offered.

"What did you expect, Chicky? Immortal creatures have got to fit in with today's world, don't they?"

"As it is, half-sirens can look deceptively human," the cat Creation interceded, before Muta could get too scathing. "Darcy Baker is indeed a half-siren; at the time she had recently hit her powers and found that she couldn't control the bloodthirsty urges. In fact, Toto, I think the first time we met she threatened to turn you into a casserole."

"Shame she didn't follow through with it."

"Anyway," Baron continued, ignoring the fat cat's blatant comments, "over time she managed to control them. We found her and helped her to find a way to channel that need into something else."

"So she became a detective?"

"A very good detective," Toto helpfully put in.

"Indeed. She's ruthless, and not to mention lethal with any weapon. In her beginning days, taking down criminals was an outlet for her killing desire; over the last three-hundred years, it's become a permanent replacement."

"That's all well and good, but if she's this... ruthless killing machine, why didn't she take down the hound when she had the chance?" Haru asked. "By the sound of things, she could easily have shot it there and then."

"I was curious." The blunt answer came from the doorway; there in the corridor stood the formidable form of Darcy Baker, tall and refined and idly flicking a knife between her fingers. She tutted. "Honestly, Baron; revealing my past so readily to a stranger – I expected better of you."

"Miss Haru is not a stranger–"

"She's a stranger to me." Baker sighed. "However, it looks like the cat is out of the bag now. Yes, I could easily have shot down that creature, but I was curious. You humans wish to kill everything and anything that threatens you but I... I have a healthy respect for other hunters. I wish to learn more."

"And have you?" Baron inquired.

"Much."

"Do you believe Stapleton's story?" Haru asked. "I mean, the hound that killed Sir Charles was a gigantic monster, but it _was_ a hound. You said so yourself."

"Oh, that creature was nothing more than an ordinary dog," Darcy agreed, "and while it showed... anomalies, it wasn't a werewolf."

"What do you make of it then? It wasn't all that ordinary," Baron reminded her.

"The deceased creature? No, it wasn't that mundane, even when you discard the fact that it came from the Dog Kingdom. It showed considerable evidence of experimentation upon it – and, unless I'm very much mistaken, the experiments were in the nature of transformation."

"Transformation?" Haru echoed.

"To human."

The room fell silent at Baker's words, and Haru caught the eye of Baron. It appeared they were thinking the same thing. Could this be linked to the animal attacks?

"Of course, the experiment appeared to have failed – or else hadn't been completed – but I am certain in my conclusions," the detective assured in her ever-smooth voice. "Someone caused this and, unless action is taken, I fear the situation will worsen."

"Worsen?" the brunette asked. "How could it worsen?"

The other woman looked to Haru. "Our very selves are rooted in our being. Think of our bodies – a mass of hormones and chemicals and neurons all working to sustain our brains – our centre. If you change the biology of an individual, you damage that equilibrium. Upset that equilibrium and all sense is ripped from the individual – they go mad. Eventually it kills them. Miss Haru, if someone is wilfully playing with the rules of nature, then we are dealing with someone who cannot or will not understand the devastation they are causing. We are dealing with a madman."

ooOoo

"Strangely enough, I don't feel any better after that little discussion." Haru stood on the landing of the second floor, leaning against her door as she talked to Baron. There were many spare bedrooms in the mansion, so Haru had been treated to a king-sized one. The Bureau had been given a room of their own – although Baron and Toto slept in their inanimate states, so Muta was the only one with any real need of a room – and Haru had stopped to talk to the cat figurine before she headed off. Today had been a long day. "So there is someone who's messing with experiments? What do we do about it?"

"I don't know. Since the experiments are being carried off on another world, then we have no way of reaching them – unless we learn the sign that will open a portal to it. I was hoping Baker would have news, but it appears even she has heard nothing of this person."

"Then how can we stop them?"

"If we can communicate with the remaining hound, then perhaps–"

"Perhaps we can become doggy food," Haru answered bluntly.

"If the experiments were responsible for the previous animal attacks, then perhaps the same pattern may occur," Baron insisted. "Before the animals died, they had a moment of clarity – if we can catch the creature at that moment, we may find the answers we're looking for."

"So... you want to capture it, but not kill it..." Haru whistled. "Good luck with that. I guess it's a good thing that Baker didn't kill the creature when she had the chance then."

"I'm not sure about that..."

"Worked it out yet?" Baker appeared in the doorway of her room, smiling as she watched the pair. "I gave you clues, Baron; surely you've come to the same conclusion as myself by now."

"Clues? Conclusion?" Haru flicked her gaze from the Creation to the detective. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, you look but you don't see..." Baker shook her beautiful head, but the corners of her lips were twitching into a smirk. "I hope Baron has understood more. Piece together what you saw on the moors and the creature you inspected in the basement. The answer is lying right before you."

"What? Baron, what did you see on the moor?" Haru asked. "You said you were attacked, but you didn't add much detail."

"The creature was a hound of sorts," Baron said. "Large, black, running on its back legs, glowing red eyes–"

"What?"

"It was a huge hound–"

"No, I meant about the way it ran," Haru interrupted. "Are you sure?"

Every time Baron closed his eyes, he could see the pouncing creature behind his eyelids. "Quite."

"But... But Baker said that the hound in the basement would run like an ordinary hound, didn't she?"

The Creation's eyes widened. "But that means–"

"That means, Baron, that we are dealing with separate creatures," Baker smoothly interceded. "There are two monsters on the moor – the dead hound's mate and... a werewolf. Someone here wants Henry Rathville dead, and this reawakening of belief in the old curse has given then a cover for the most brutal of murders."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet, but we cannot let Rathville out of our sight."

A howling ripped through the air; eerie and unearthly. All three snapped their attention to the window, where the wide and empty moorland stood, waiting. A black shape flew in through the open gap and landed heavily on Haru's shoulder. "Baron! Haru! I've just seen Henry Rathville out on the moors – with Dr Mortimer and Jack Stapleton!"

"What in blazes is he doing out there?" Baron muttered.

"Should I tell him to come back?"

"No," Baker swiftly answered, before Baron could possibly tell Toto otherwise. "No, we must do nothing to make Rathville suspicious. One of those two is our potential murderer. If they believe their plan has been thwarted, they will act now and all will be lost. We must make our way after him and hope we are in time."

ooOoo

"I say, are you quite sure this was a good idea?" Dr Mortimer gingerly prompted his horse to speed up to keep up with the two younger men. Like the other two, he held a gun in one hand, hesitantly gripped in preparation for attack. "Surely seeking this monster out in daylight would have been a better plan."

"Really, Mortimer, do keep your spirits up," Rathville called back. "This is an adventure!"

"The only adventure I want is found in books," the doctor muttered.

"You won't be saying that when we have the second monster's head stuffed and hung above the mantelpiece, will you?"

"Anyway," Stapleton calmly added, "if this really is the beast of the curse, then Henry will be in danger for as long as it remains at large. The sooner we face it, the sooner this will all be over."

"See? Even Jack thinks this is a good idea."

"We should have told people we were heading out," Mortimer insisted. "Dawson and Baker seemed like they would be good in a pinch like this... It is the reason I asked them to come here, after all."

"Baker had been travelling all day and Dawson had already faced down the beast once–"

"Really, Rathville, I do think that your pride is getting the better of you."

"As long as I get the better of this beast, I'm happy."

"There's no guarantee that that will happen though–"

"Doctor, if you're so worried then perhaps you will feel better if you head back to the manor," Stapleton ventured. "You could tell the great detective and her companion where we are and they can join us here. As you said, they would be good in a situation like this."

"Oh, well, I..." There was a howl across the moor. Mortimer shivered. "Alright, okay. I'll go. I'll bring the others back with me – if you could stay here until I come back?"

The young noble rolled his eyes. "Do we really have to wait that long–?"

"Sure." Stapleton smiled, cutting across Rathville's complaint. "Of course we'll still be here."

A nervous smile flickered across the doctor's face and he made haste in the direction of the mansion.

ooOoo

Haru had really had enough of the moor. It was wet and muddy and always threatening to suck her in if she took but a step off the path. Baron was with Toto, flying above the rest of the rescue party as they trudged across the heath. Muta had stayed at the mansion, but Haru had refused to be left behind. She knew the risks, but she wasn't going to sit back and do nothing, not today. Baker had only smiled at the brunette's insistence, and Haru gained the impression she approved of her stubbornness. They now walked together, with Dawson a little further ahead and the two Creations gliding above. Baker was the first to break the silence.

"Do you have any experience in this field?"

"What field are we talking about?"

The half-siren shrugged gracefully and continued her eerily smooth march across the boggy ground. Her heritage gave her a distinct elegance that showed itself in every situation; Haru couldn't help but feel a little envious of the other woman. "Bureau business. Cases."

"Not... exactly."

Darcy seemed unaffected by the answer, only emitting a short, "I thought not." She turned her gaze to Haru, whose pace had jarred for just a moment by the response. "You show promise, but you are all too human."

"I'm sorry? What?"

"Don't be insulted," the half-siren assured. "I state only facts, not opinions. Being human, you are much too prone to emotional interference. Your heart easily rules your head and thus you always risk making irrational decisions when logic dictates otherwise. Even Dawson has his moments, and he's more level-headed than most humans. You, however, are still learning."

"Not all traces of humanity is a curse." The man in question had stopped and turned to face the two women, something unreadable in his gaze. "We wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for those moments."

"Your moments of irrationality endanger more lives than they would save," Baker bluntly informed him. "You endanger your own life for the chance to save another when there is no assurance that you will succeed."

"That's one of the strange things about humanity," Dawson answered softly. "We learn to value other lives over our own." The two locked eye contact, and something almost tangible was present in the air. Then the man looked away and briskly continued walking. "Not that you would understand that, Darcy."

Haru stood on the sidelines, feeling like she'd just witnessed something personal, and wondered whether there was anything she could say to possibly diffuse the tension. But then Baker sighed and continued walking as if nothing had happened. She turned to the brunette, bringing out a gun. "Here, Miss Haru; under the circumstances I think you should be armed."

The young woman took the weapon cautiously. The metal felt heavy in her hands, biting into her skin with the cold and she struggled to make the weight comfortable. "Baker, I'm not sure–"

Baker glanced once to the flying form of Toto and then back to Haru. "I know that Baron prefers his old-fashioned style of fighting, but there are two monsters out on the moor. The toothpick that he calls a cane will have no weight in this battle if this comes to a fight. There is no guarantee that Dawson or I will be able to defend you in such a situation, so you best be able to defend yourself. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Chaos up ahead brought their conversation short and it took Haru several seconds to identify the noise as the beat of oncoming hooves. A moment later Mortimer broke the brow of the hill, with his terrified stead cantering towards them. They saw the source of the fear seconds later.

It was a hound of giant proportions, but it differed from the creature they had seen on the moors before – this creature was like the deceased dog; its shoulder as tall as a small pony and running on all fours. Its eyes were nothing but blackness; an eerie emptiness in comparison to the werewolf's crimson orbs. It snapped at Mortimer's mount, sending the animal into further skitters and the horse stumbled. It smacked into the ground and the doctor was thrown off. He hit the heather and didn't move.

The horse was struggling now, its flailing hooves trying to push it back to its feet and yet every move made it sink further. In its haste, it had fled right into mire like Haru had fallen into, and in its terrified instinct to flee it was only speeding its demise. The hound stood on the edge of the mire, watching the humans that were separated by the relentless bog.

They approached the fallen Mortimer, who had been thrown far enough to make it to solid ground – although he wasn't quite conscious enough to appreciate his near-escape. Dr Dawson knelt down to examine the wounds, while Baker stood to the side, her gaze staring down at the monster stood only metres away. She had her gun raised, trained on the creature, but was yet to shoot.

"Mortimer – Dr John Mortimer – can you hear me? What happened?" Baron was gently, but urgently, trying to prompt answers from the man. "Where is Henry Rathville?"

"Baron, he's barely conscious," Dawson reprimanded. "Now is not the time."

"If we don't learn what has happened, we may find our time has run out," the Creation curtly replied. "Henry Rathville could be in danger–"

"Look at the man – he's not going to be making any sense yet."

Baron admitted defeat. "Alright." Still on Toto, he motioned for the crow to rise back to the air. "Toto and I will skirt out until we locate Rathville. If Mortimer was with him, then he can't be far."

"So what do we do about this creature?" Dawson asked after the two Creations had left the small band of humans – and half-siren – on the edge of the mire. The monster was still pacing the other side, trying to find a way across but all too aware of the gun aimed its way. It had seen guns before; it had learnt its lesson after the encounter with Sir Charles.

Haru looked to Baker; poised and alert and deadly calm. The half-siren looked prepared to fire, but something was keeping her back. Something stopped her from pulling the trigger. "Something's wrong," she said after several stagnant moments dragged by.

And there was something different now about the monster. Its pacing as becoming increasingly frenzied, as it glanced to the people and away and erratically shook its head as if something was buzzing round it. No longer did it look like the slavering, bloodthirsty hound, but instead as something that was teetering on a thin line between sanity and madness. Like the eagle. Balthazar.

Haru gently placed her hand on Baker's weapon and pressured her to lower it. The creature didn't even notice; it was too preoccupied with the war inside its head. She knelt down at her edge of the mire, her eyes fixed on the hound as it paced. "Plea..." Her voice gave way and the word died before it passed her lips. She tried again. "Please, we... we don't mean you any harm."

"Harm?" it snapped. It stopped its useless pacing, and its limbs shivered with some unspecified emotion. Haru felt both Dawson and Baker tense; the words it spat were undeniably human; undeniably understandable. "Of course you mean harm! You monsters are all the same! With your sticks that shoot fire you murdered my mate and tried to do the same to me! Harm?" it repeated. Its voice lowered to a guttural growl and its hollow eyes moved over to Baker. "You live to kill; it's in your veins. I can smell the violence rolling off you – you, who are not one of them and yet still associate with humans – you would turn your back on your own kind to run with these... monsters?"

Baker stared back at the beast; her hand quivered as if considering raising the gun again. "My own kind?" she echoed sharply. "Which would that be? Human? Or siren? Because I followed my siren side for a while and, trust me, it's not pretty."

"It must be difficult for you," the creature taunted. "To have all that siren potential and be weighed down by the... _expectations_ of the human world. The rules, the regulations, the morals that they use to hide their cruelty... But you – you could become so much more if only you abandoned that notion; if you embraced your siren blood–"

"That's enough." Dawson was on his feet and his gun was aimed straight at the beast.

"See what I mean?" it snarled. "Humans are as bloodthirsty as the rest of us; they just hide it better–"

"I said, _that's enough_," the doctor growled. He fired a warning shot into the air; the noise shattered the silence of the moor and sent birds fleeing to the skies. "Talk again like that to Darcy and the next bullet will have your name on it."

Baker looked sharply to her companion. "You're becoming irrational, James," she remarked quietly. "Calm your temper."

"It's mocking you, Darcy," Dawson snarled. "It's trying to confuse you, to turn you into something you're not."

The detective placed a calm hand on the doctor's wrist. She evenly met his gaze. "And I promise you that's never going to happen," she murmured softly. "I have you to keep me grounded, remember?"

Dawson dropped his arm. He nodded. "Alright."

Haru turned her attention back to the creature so steadily watching them. "What about me?" she asked and, although her voice was gentle, it carried across the mire. "I have no desire to kill. Will you listen to me? Please – we need answers–"

"You're just another one of those monsters," the beast growled. "Fear and anger will change you – it always does."

"Please – who did this to you? Who changed you?"

"Who do you think?" it spat. "Another of your kind."

"Who?"

It growled, but abruptly shook its head as if the buzzing had returned. It staggered back and when its eyes looked upon the people, something else was present. The anger was gone to be replaced with pure fear. Some semblance of sanity had returned to it – much like Balthazar – and now it fled. Its run was frequented by shudders and stumbling, as if waves of pain were hitting it. Baker raised her gun, preparing to fire, and then lowered it again.

"The change is too much," she said, surprisingly softly. "It's killing it."

At that moment, Toto and Baron reappeared, flying straight back for them. "We've found Rathville!" Toto shouted. "He's alone with Stapleton – come on! We'll lead you around the mire but we have to move – now!"

"Why?" Haru shouted back up. "What's so wrong? Is he alright?"

"Think about it, Miss Haru," Baker interrupted. "Either Mortimer or Stapleton is the werewolf – and Mortimer left Rathville... Stapleton is the werewolf."

ooOoo

Henry Rathville stared up at the sky, starry and bright from the low light pollution in the middle of the moor. The moon hung clear and round above, casting a pearly glow upon the heath below. "Full moon tonight," he remarked after a moment.

Stapleton made a sound that sounded like absent-minded agreement.

"Looks like a perfect setting for one of your stories, huh, Jack?"

The teacher laughed humourlessly. "Indeed. Perhaps you'd like to hear another story while we wait for the others to arrive?"

"Go on, then."

"There was another part of the Rathville curse that I never told you, Henry. You could say that it's... personal. You see, after the maiden killed Sir Hugo, she discovered she was with child and gave birth to a daughter of the moon – another werewolf. She left the moors and raised her daughter quietly in another village, but she never forgot, and she never forgave the Rathville family. She taught her child her history and how to control the werewolf. You see, unlike the monsters of stories, we can become werewolves by choice during a full moon."

Something in the back of Henry's head was telling him that something was severely wrong here; his nerves sent his horse padding at the ground even as his mouth went dry. "We?" he carefully echoed. "You said _we_." He tried to subtly prompt his horse away. "Didn't you? You said we."

"Oh, I guess I did..." Stapleton seemed unworried by this little slip-up. "How foolish of me." Henry's horse began to step back, but Stapleton grabbed a handful of the creature's mane and stopped it in its tracks. "Now, now, is that any way to react in the middle of a story? You did ask for it, after all." The horse whinnied, but the man's grip remained firm. "Even after the maiden died, the daughter remembered the injustice her mother had suffered, and so she married and moved back to the moors and raised her son on the tales of the past. And now her son – the maiden's grandson – is back to take revenge for everything your family has done!"

"Jack! Jack, it's me – Henry. Don't you remember?" Rathville begged. "Remember me? We were friends–"

Stapleton bit back a cruel laugh. "Oh, how fickle the memory is. _Friends_? Is that how you call it?" He scoffed, but his eyes became hateful. "You and your cronies bullied me every summer you came. The only way I could get you to back off was to tell the stories you so loved – the stories that told the bitter tales of my family's past. We were never friends, Henry. I rejoiced when you stopped coming – so imagine my horror when I heard that you were returning..."

Henry knew he should move – should run – but something kept him in place. Perhaps fear, perhaps the knowledge that the moment he ran Stapleton would chase – and he would die. "You... You killed my uncle, didn't you?"

"No. No, the other beast on these moors was responsible for that," Stapleton growled. "I merely decided to... take advantage of the renewed belief in the curse. Your death will be put down to the other beast and I... I will be left in the knowledge that my family has been avenged." He tilted his head to one side and it gave a sickening crack. He flexed his fingers and his jaw; a double crack jolted through the air. Huge fangs split from his mouth. It curved into a cruel, hungry smile. "Run."

Henry fell out of his saddle and hit the springy heather ground. He rolled onto his feet and stumbled into a hazy, fear-fuelled run. Behind him the cracking continued as joints were twisted and bones elongated. But as long as he could still hear it, he knew the change was still occurring – it was when that sound stopped that he knew the wolf would be chasing him. He tried to shout, but his voice was lost – and, anyway, who would be out on the moors to hear his pitiful plea? He staggered, pushing his way past the heather even as it tore at his trousers. And now there was the sound of heavy footsteps behind him, the breaking of bracken and the squelch of mud as the creature came fast behind him.

A clawed hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the ground. He fell and rolled onto his back to see the werewolf looming over him. The long face was slick with sweat and the jaws were salivating with the need to kill. The creature's form was like a human's, only pulled out of proportion and covered in thick, black fur. The eyes glowed red as they regarded the caught human. "Honestly, Henry," it said, and Stapleton's voice was hidden behind a layer of guttural growl, "I would have expected more from you. All this time I've been waiting for this very moment and you put on such a poor show. I was hoping for a bit of a chase at least." His hand – paw? Foot? – rested on Rathville's chest and his claws dug into his skin; not enough to break it, but able to inflict pain.

"Jack – Jack – okay, so maybe I was an idiot in my youth, but we're grown men now!" Henry hastily tried to rationalise. "Are you really going to kill me over some... misunderstanding we had as kids?"

Stapleton's claws dug deeper and this time blood welled up upon Henry's chest. "You just don't get it, do you?" he roared. "This isn't just for me! This is for my family – for vengeance that my grandmother installed into my mother, who passed it onto me! This is for the crime that your ancestors never paid for – that you will now take!"

"You're... You're mad."

Stapleton's mutated face split into a slipping smile. "Maybe. But now, Henry Rathville. You. Will. Die!"

He opened his mouth filled with so many lethal fangs, and prepared to strike when a gunshot rippled through the air and he was propelled back. He tried to stagger back to his feet, but more bullets pierced through his skin. Red was beginning to show through his fur, seeping out and dripping to the ground and still he continued to move. More shots ripped through the air and this time when he fell he didn't get back up.

Darcy Baker stood on the brow of the hill, smiling grimly. "I never miss."

Haru and the two Creations finally caught up with the half-siren and quickly moved to check the bleeding Henry Rathville.

"He – He was going to kill me!" he gasped. "He – He's a werewolf! Did you see that? Jack's a werewolf!"

"We had noticed," Haru muttered. "Henry, can you move? Where do you hurt?"

"He..." The young noble swallowed and recovered a little of his senses. He unsteadily pushed himself up, one hand running across the blood on his chest. "Nothing major," he admitted. "Scratches, I think. Where's Mortimer?"

"Injured, but Dawson is looking after him," Baron informed. "Are you quite sure you're not seriously wounded?"

"Quite. I think... I think it's mostly shock." He looked to where the creature lay, unmoving in a pool of its own blood. "Jack spoke of another beast on the moors – is there another monster out there? Should I be worried?" He tried to get to his feet, but Haru's hand on his shoulder firmly kept him from rising. He didn't look anywhere near stable enough to stand by his own just yet.

"It's dead, or will be soon," Haru answered. She looked to Baron.

The Creation nodded. "We passed over it in flying back. It won't be a threat to anyone anymore."

Henry looked across at the Bureau, to Haru, and finally to Baker, who still stood stoically on the brow of the hill. "Thank you. Thank you all."

ooOoo

"I see you are heading off." Baker stood in the open doorway, watching as Baron established a portal. After some debates with messengers from the Cat Kingdom, he had negotiated a second portal shard that would automatically lead back to the Refuge – its simplicity meant that this was the only location they could go to, but since that was what was needed, there was no use asking after anything more complex. The rest of the Bureau and Haru were sat around the room, patiently waiting for their trip home.

"Indeed. I take it you can manage from here, Baker?" Baron asked.

"I could have managed without your help entirely," the detective replied; not unkindly but simply honestly. "But, yes, Dawson and I can take it from here. The authorities will never believe the true story, so we're going to go with tales of rogue dogs instead. Anyway, we can't stay long; there's been a rather peculiar murder back in the capital that looks like the work of a vampire."

"And you've been asked to look into it?"

"No. But if I don't get involved, goodness knows who the police will pin the death on."

Baron smiled and returned to his work.

Haru rose to her feet and offered the gun that she had been previously given. "I... think you should take this back."

Baker waved it away. "Keep it. I always have multiple guns on me and, if you wish to continue working with the Bureau, you will need to find a way to defend yourself."

Haru glanced nervously down to the weapon. She glanced back to Baron, who was being uncannily quiet at that moment. "Thank you, Baker," she started slowly, "but if I learn to defend myself, I want it to be on my own terms. I'm not... I can't handle this kind of... killing. Not wilfully."

The detective merely nodded. "Understood." She took the weapon and stowed it away in her long coat. "Very good, Miss Haru. You stand up for what you believe in; I can see why the Bureau took you in." She brought her hand forward, but this time it came for an offer of a handshake, not a gun. "Until we meet again, Miss Haru. Until we meet again."

"Before we leave, there's one thing I want you to take a look at." Baron returned to join the conversation, and he spared Haru a small, brief smile that approved of her answer. He raised the cane – which, Haru had failed to realise before now, was the same one that had come through the portal – to Baker. "If you could give us some insight..."

"Of course." She took the cane, which grew back to human proportions in her hands. "It's a good, solid stick – crafted from sturdy wood, but done roughly. Whoever made this was an amateur. However..." Baker turned it over in her long, gloved hands. "The owner evidently is proud; the choice of white for the paint, the attempt to hide all signs of wear... This belongs to someone who is accustomed to class and yet this was the best they could make do in the circumstances." She raised it to her head and sniffed. "A scientist... or doctor, maybe – someone who dabbles in chemicals used this, although the portal magic makes it difficult to tell. Chemicals and magic used alongside each other, I think..." She turned her gaze to the Bureau. "This belongs to whomever experimented on those hounds, doesn't it?"

Baron nodded.

"And you hope that I can give you some form of information that could lead you to them?"

Another nod.

"I wish I could help, but I have little idea which world they occupy. I can sense the portal magic used in the initial transportation – but it's become mixed with the other portal magic it's gone through since. Even if that wasn't a problem, I don't think it's any world I am familiar with."

"Thank you, Baker. You've been a great help."

"I will keep alert for any news that could aid your search," the half-siren promised.

Baron nodded, but in defeat this time, and turned to activate the portal.

"And still we are no closer to finding the cause," Toto said.

"Still we are no closer," Baron agreed.

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by: **_**The Hound of the Baskervilles**_**. Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.**

**References:**

_**The Great Mouse Detective**_**. Written by Eve Titus. Produced by Disney.**

_**The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)**_**. Produced by Sydney Lanfield. **

_**Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets**_**. Written by J. K. Rowling.**

_**Doctor Who: Tooth and Claw**_**. Written by Russell T. Davis. **

**ooOoo**

**Next Story: **_**The Strange Case of Renaldo Moon**_**.**

**Teaser**: _**She sidestepped the remains of the wood, sickening unease simmering in her stomach as she approached the hollow hole where the Bureau's door had once stood. /**_ _**She knew that voice – had missed that voice, had been looking for that voice all day – but the face was wrong. The person was wrong. The species was wrong. **_/ _**"WHAT–? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? I'M – I'M –"**_


	7. The Strange Case of Renaldo Moon (Part1)

**A/N: READ BEFORE YOU START THE CHAPTER: Last week you may have noticed a certain lack of e-mail notifications. So you may have missed last week's chapter (the conclusion to _Hounds of the Bureau_) so make sure you catch up with that. (And leave lovely reviews; _The Bureau Files_ cast feel very lonely and need lots of love!)**

**Many thanks,**

**Cat.**

**ooOoo**

_T__he Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 7: The Strange Case of Renaldo Moon (Part 1)**

The Lion's Head Hotel was a small, modest building on the edge of town; once a village pub, until the town had expanded and engulfed the little settlement, it had passed through many hands until it fell into the ownership of the current landlord. Modern pressures had altered it from the Lion's Head to the Lion's Head Hotel, in hope that the change would tempt new customers through its tired doors but, despite this, the few rooms it had furnished lay empty.

And then the stranger arrived.

Wrapped up from head to toe, save for the steely glint of his strangely angular eyes, he came into the Lion's Head Hotel at night. His appearance in the small community centring what was considered the local pub caused curiosity at first – for what reason would any man hid his face so? – but he answered none of the questions fired his way. Indeed, he rarely spoke.

"A room," he said to the small landlady. "In the name of all that is good, a warm room and a hot meal." The bundled scarf about his lower face moved when he talked, but there was something... off about it. The scarf jutted out from his face, further than expected from any ordinary nose, and his voice was muffled, but perhaps that was just the scarf. Perhaps, perhaps not.

The landlady, however, was of a stoic disposition and so she made no comment on the man's unusual appearance. She merely smiled and dropped a set of keys into his gloved hand. "Dinner will be served in half an hour, if that suits you, Mr...?"

"Griffin." His fingers curled around the keys. "It's Griffin."

ooOoo

Despite the warm weather outside, Baron was inside the Bureau, carefully examining the desk that had fallen through the portal. He had collected together the broken glass and, while it was obvious that some potent liquid had been held in those smashed vials, there was nothing he could do to establish the contents of them now. The cane, likewise, had delivered little consequential evidence that would bring them any nearer to tracking down the owner, and so only the wooden desk remained. As of yet, it had yet to yield any secrets.

He sat down at his own desk and regarded the stubborn piece of furniture. It was still leant rather precariously as a result of its fall through the portal, and only three of its legs were still supporting it. All the drawers were empty, and only a small smouldering of ash betrayed what had happened to the contents – although how and why the papers had been burnt was still beyond Baron's understanding. The beautiful weather outside wasn't exactly helping either. In fact, it made his failure all the more frustrating.

After several more moments had passed – in which he had established that simply staring at the impossible piece of furniture would do no good – he rose back to his feet and approached it. He gave it a hard stare.

For a brief, fleeting moment his frustration got the better of him and he delivered a swift kick to the desk and turned back to his seat. He stopped. A rattling noise from the stolen bureau caught his attention and he returned to it. More gently this time, he took the sides of the desk and shook it. There – again! The same rattle had occurred. He knelt down and pressed on orange ear to the side as he carefully wobbled the desk. This time he pinned down the source and tore open one of the drawers.

It was empty.

And yet, when he shook it, the sound was definitely coming from that area of the bureau. He dropped his hand into the draw and felt around – still nothing. For a moment he had hoped that an illusion charm had been place and he simply couldn't see the contents, but the drawer was most definitely empty. He felt around at the far side of the drawer, and started back when his fingers met wood before he was expecting it.

An idea entered his mind and he brought out the drawer as far as it would go. Using his arm as a reference point, he estimated the depth of the drawer and then the depth of the desk – and a good half-foot was missing between the two. He smiled, and returned his hand to the drawer, where he carefully pressured the back of it. Something gave way and he quickly reclaimed his hand. This time, when he looked into the drawer, it went further back than before. And there was something... glittering too.

"A false back. How ingenious."

He gently eased the secret contents out, revealing a glass vial carefully wrapped in a handkerchief. He opened up the material to bring the glass container into the light, whereupon the clear, bubbling liquid inside could be seen. He uncorked it and sniffed. It smelt sweet.

"Why, you big chicken, come and say that to my face!"

"What's wrong, marshmallow? I didn't know you were deaf as well as fat!"

There was the sound of smashing outside and Baron was forced to cork the vial and quickly stow it away in the cupboard. As the sound of more breakage (probably plant pots) doubled, he hastily sped outside, leaving the glass vial idly standing abandoned on the ledge. For now, it was forgotten.

ooOoo

"All I'm saying is that you need to start answering calls – after you didn't come back on Tuesday night, I called and I was worried sick!" Hiromi paced around their small kitchen, throwing her arms about to make her point as she spoke. Haru merely continued to organise dinner. "I mean, where were you? Your phone said you were out of range, but what did it mean by that? Come on, I have a right to know! You keep on disappearing–"

"Hiromi," Haru sighed. "Please just let it go–"

"No! I won't! Haru, don't you understand that I'm worried about you?"

"No, I get that, but there's nothing to be worried about–"

"Sometimes there are nights when you don't come back at all, and what am I meant to think? It'd be easier not to worry if you sent some indication of when you're just not going to turn up, so I know to expect it–"

Haru paused in her chore, staring down at the half-peeled carrots. This was an argument she couldn't win. But what could she say? The truth was too fantastic to believe and a lie would be cruel. "Hiromi, if I promise to tell you when I'll be out, will you be happy?"

"I'd be happier if I knew _what_ you were doing."

Haru lifted her gaze to her friend and found not just the anger and worry, but a genuine fear for her present in Hiromi's eyes. She dropped her gaze back to the abandoned carrots. "It's nothing dodgy, you have to believe me," she murmured, but she knew this would mollify no nerves. If the roles had been reversed – if it was Hiromi disappearing for whole nights – she knew what she would worry and perhaps suspect, but the right words refused to come. She bundled up her courage and met Hiromi's gaze again. "I promise."

"Then why won't you tell me?" Hiromi's voice had dropped to hurt now, pained by the secrecy that had never separated in their younger years. "What's keeping you back?"

"It's..."

"Please, Haru."

"It's volunteering work, okay?" Haru forced herself to keep her gaze steady. It wasn't entirely a lie but, then again, it wasn't the entire truth either. "There's a... group that works in solving people's problems, but they don't work for money so I offered to help with... the daily running, I guess... When they need an extra pair of hands, I help. That's all it is, Hiromi."

"Can I get a name? A company?"

"It's... an unofficial group. Please, Hiromi, it's complicated. They like to have their privacy, so I can't really talk about it, but I promise I'll do my best to keep you up to date on when I'll be out from now on."

The shorter brunette stared warily at her friend, and then nodded her defeat. "Alright, Haru, I'll trust you." She hugged Haru and then grinned, reverting back to the Hiromi Haru knew and loved. "Hey, did I ever tell you how my date with Tsuge went?"

"Oh, so now you're calling it a _date?"_

_"_Maybe..."

"So that would be the... fifth time you've seen him since he first called," Haru recalled on her fingers. "He must be doing something right, huh?"

Hiromi, uncharacteristically, blushed.

ooOoo

It was several days before Haru decided to visit the Bureau again. After the discussion with her flatmate, she had decided to feign normality for a little while longer before slipping back into the mad world of Creations. Anyway, Toto hadn't come calling so she assumed that everything was under control – and, unfortunately, that no major breakthroughs had been made on finding the source of the increasingly anthropomorphic animals. She supposed the next chance they'd have to gleam information would be with the next major animal attack. If it ever came.

She was so caught up with her thoughts that, as she made her steady way to the Bureau, she didn't see the large man running the other way. Suddenly she found herself accidentally elbowed to the side of the small alleyway, her breath knocked clean out of her. By the time she had registered what had happened, the man was already halfway down the alley.

"Hey!" she shouted. "An apology wouldn't go amiss!"

Either the man was in too much of a rush to hear or he didn't care, for he made no attempt at a belated sorry. She glared after him, rubbing her stomach at the dull ache of pain now emerging. She muttered some complaints to herself and continued along. It was early morning so the streets were mostly empty, which was partly why she hadn't been expected anyone to be coming down the other way at such a pace. Despite the fact that usually she wasn't an eager early bird, she had decided that she should try to pay the Bureau a visit before starting work at the pet shop; at least she could check whether there was anything new happening that way.

However, upon entering the Sanctuary, it quickly became clear that life hadn't quite been as uneventful as she had perhaps believed.

The Bureau's doors had been ripped off its hinges and now lay in tatters across the cobbled ground. She sidestepped the remains of the wood, sickening unease simmering in her stomach as she approached the hollow hole where the Bureau's door had once stood. For several stinted seconds, she could only stand there, staring where the door should be and yet wasn't.

"Baron?"

Her voice came out a mere whisper, breathless with the fear that there had been a more ominous reason for the Bureau's lack of communication as of late. She swallowed back the speechlessness and tried again.

"Baron? Are you there?"

This time a scuffling sound broke the silence and from the doorless archway a wonderfully familiar Creation ran out. Evidently he was so rushed that, like the man earlier, he failed to notice Haru entirely. In fact, he was still facing towards the Bureau and was shouting something to someone inside when he ran into the brunette.

"Toto, find Haru! See if she can help – we're going to need someone who can talk with the locals if we're to find him– Haru!" Looking a little disorientated from the suddenly barrelling into Haru's leg. He hastily stepped back, collecting what remained of his dignity and looking suitably abashed. "Miss Haru, I – I am sorry, I didn't–"

Haru curtly waved it away and knelt down so she could talk with the foot-high figurine. "Doesn't matter. What's wrong? What's–" and at this point she waved to the dislocated door "–all this?"

"It's Muta," Baron gasped. Something had rendered him breathless, for he struggled to get the words out. His grip on his cane had to be uncomfortably tight, but the worry in his eyes showed this to be a minor inconvenience. Something worse was afoot. "He's ... He's... I don't know..."

"He's gone mad," Toto clarified. He hopped out after Baron, something made of glass held gently in his black beak so that his words came out muffled. He nudged his companion Creation and dropped the item into Baron's gloved hand. "I found that near the cake. I think he must have mistaken it for flavouring."

"What is it?" Haru asked.

Baron didn't answer immediately; instead he merely stared down at what could now be seen to be a glass vial – an empty glass vial. If possibly, his posture stiffened further and his green eyes became tinged with what could only be called horror. Suddenly he leapt in a flurry of movement, jumping onto Toto's back. "We need to find him. Now."

As the crow flew into the air, Haru staggered to her feet. "Wait – what's wrong? What was in it?"

Toto hovered above her head and Baron bit out a hasty explanation. "The vial – it was found in the desk that came through the portal – and I left it in the cupboard. Muta must have used it in the cake he made and I... I have little clue as to what effects it has. He ate the cake and then... then he ran. We have no time to lose; we need to find him and discern exactly what the liquid has done before..."

"Before it's too late," Toto grimly finished. Toto's seriousness was the factor that unnerved Haru more than anything; this told her that this was bad.

Haru nodded. "Let's go."

ooOoo

He wasn't at the Crossroads. He wasn't at his favourite begging spots. He wasn't in any of the residential neighbourhoods. None of the cats had seen him. Neither had any of the birds. Haru even asked around the local people, but no one had seen a piggy cat, although several remembered him. Eventually they came back to the Sanctuary and Haru collapsed against the pillar, exhausted and very aware that she was due to arrive at the Paradise Pet Store any moment now.

"How hard can it be to find one fat cat?" she groaned, the stress creeping into her tone and cracking her voice. "He has to be _somewhere_."

Baron and Toto nodded, but neither added their reassurances to the discussion. Their search had exhausted them emotionally as well as physically and conversation had died away into an almost never-heard monosyllabic state. It didn't do anything for any of their nerves.

Haru tilted her head down to Baron, who was pacing as he desperately tried to work out their next move. "What do you think the liquid did to him?" she asked quietly. The question had been burning in her mind for their entire search, but until now she hadn't summoned up the courage to voice it. She didn't know whether she wanted to hear the answer.

"I wish I knew." Baron stopped pacing, but he didn't lift his gaze to meet hers. "I didn't have the chance to experiment upon the contents of the vial," he admitted. "We can only hope that the effects are neither permanent nor fatal." He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing in tired defeat. "Let's do another sweep of the town. He can't have got far." He opened his eyes and this time flickered his gaze for the briefest second to Haru. "Miss Haru, I believe you are expected at the pet store."

"No – I should stay and help–"

"You are exhausting yourself as it is and your friends are sure to worry if you do not arrive," he tiredly and softly rationalised. "Please, Miss Haru, taking your mind off this will do you good and if you stay on your feet for much longer I fear you will collapse. I promise you that Toto will inform you of any new developments on this case."

Haru nodded mutely, trying to bring up arguments, but finding herself too tired. They had run all over town to no avail, and she tired much quicker than the two Creations. Who knew – maybe Michael or his grandfather might have seen Muta. She took this baseless hope to reassure herself as she headed back towards town.

Perhaps it had all been a big misunderstanding. Perhaps it wasn't so severe. Perhaps Muta was simply messing with them.

Perhaps.

Perhaps not.

ooOoo

"Haru? Haru – there's a customer. Haru!"

The brunette jolted out of her thoughts to register the bemused blonde standing at the counter. She glanced back to Michael, who was in the process of sorting out the storeroom but had peered into the shop to see Haru phasing out. She smiled apologetically and turned back to the customer. "Sorry, what did you want?"

Needless to say, Haru's attention span waned desperately over the course of the day. Eventually Michael pulled her to one side in concern.

"Haru, are you quite sure that you're okay? You've hardly been here all day."

"I'm–"

"And don't say you're fine. You're a terrible liar."

Haru deflated. "I've just... I've just had a bad day."

"Want to talk about it?"

Haru smiled gratefully and shook her head. "It concerns other people."

Michael smiled sympathetically and spared a glance to the front door of the shop. A wide smile spread briefly across his face. "Alright. What say you to closing the shop early and heading off for tea in town?"

"No, you don't need–"

The young man scoffed and shook Haru's refusal away. "We only have half an hour before we were due to close anyway and it's always quiet at this time of day. Come on – I'll tell my grandfather where we're going and then I'll treat you to a hot drink. You look like you could do with it."

Quite unable to summon an argument for the second time that day, Haru nodded her defeat. At least if she was in town, she could keep an eye for Muta. The thought made her feel a little better. Not much, but enough. She smiled weakly. "Thank you."

"Not at all. It's the least I can do."

ooOoo

They ended up at the Crossroads, and Haru found herself drawn to the same cafe where Muta would usually be by, but there was no white cat in sight today. However, there was a large man sitting at the table she usually occupied. A prickle of familiarity – as if she should recognise the scene and yet something vital was wrong – shot through her system and she stumbled in her tracks. Michael caught her before she fell.

"Wow, you really aren't feeling too good today," he murmured. "Are you sure you don't want to share what's wrong?"

Haru shook her head and stiffly found another table to sit at. Her gaze kept drifting back to the stranger at the other table.

"Haru?" Michael looked unnerved by Haru's confused, dazed expression; the same one she had been wearing all day. "You're not like yourself today at all. What happened to the young woman who charged down that bird? Whatever's happened, it's shaken you up far more than that ever did and it worries me."

Haru tried to smile, but was painfully aware that it came out a grimace. Her voice was going again, so she could only murmur, "It's nothing you have to worry about, Michael. I'm simply anxious for a friend, that's all."

"You should have said," Michael insisted. "There's no shame in taking a day off if you need to..." He sighed and shook his head. "But you're stubborn, I know that. Seriously, Haru, if you ever need to take a day off for friend or family issues, you're completely at liberty to do so. We'll respect that." Haru offered no immediate response, so the young man only sighed again and said instead, "Well then, I think we better order some drinks. Tea?"

"You know me too well."

Michael only smiled and rose to buy the drinks. Haru merely leant her head on her hands and stared into space, rigorously going through what they knew and where they hadn't yet looked. Muta was predicable; that was the problem. He had a set number of places that he would regularly visit and if he wasn't in any of those places well... they had little clue where next to look. That was assuming he was in a right frame of mind, which wasn't to be taken for granted.

"You're looking very serious." Michael sat back down, two saucers and cups balanced in his hands. He settled one down before her and while his tone was light, his eyes were as worried as ever. She had been getting a lot of that recently. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh, they're not for sale."

"Really? You sure I couldn't bribe you?" He grinned and it became quickly clear that he was gently trying to lighten the mood. "I think I saw some chocolate brownies back there..."

"Oh, please no. You've already bought me tea–"

"No tea is complete without cake or biscuits. Or, in this case, chocolate brownies."

"I refuse to let you buy me brownies–"

"For what reason?"

Haru spluttered, motioning wordlessly to the tea and the Crossroads for several seconds before her voice returned. "You've already treated me to tea and closed the store early, all for my sake, and I don't want to inconvenience you any further–"

Michael laughed, for some reason finding the idea hilarious. "Believe me, Haru, you are not an inconvenience."

Haru laughed back, but looked mildly abashed by his words. "Thank you, but I really wouldn't want to impose on your hospitality–"

"I wouldn't worry about that. It's not often I get to act the gentlemen for such a beautiful young lady."

The brunette grinned, and this time her smile stretched right across her face as she bit back laughter. "Honestly, you should stop with the flattery. I'm sure it's doing my ego no good." She sipped at her tea, suddenly grimacing as she did so.

"What? Does it taste okay?"

"I think someone forgot the milk," she said, wrinkling her nose distastefully. "No, I'll get it," she said before Michael could offer. "I'll be back in a moment." She rose to her feet and headed towards the interior of the cafe. After collecting a small jug of milk, she started to return to the table, but found her gaze drawn to that same table where the large stranger sat. He hadn't moved in all the time Haru had been at the cafe and there was still... something uncannily familiar about him. Going against whatever caution she possessed, she stopped by the table. She felt Michael's gaze turn to her, silently curious as to the apparently unprompted act.

She stood mutely at the table, tilting her head to one side to see the stranger's face clearer. He was staring down at his hands, his dark eyes glazed out and evidently not seeing what lay before him. Haru coughed politely to no avail. "He-Hello?"

Still no reaction. Haru doubted the stranger had even heard her. She knew that kind of expression; it was the expression of someone with their mind totally elsewhere. Still, that same gut feeling of knowing them wouldn't leave, so she tried again.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you okay?"

Something got through this time. The man blinked – the first sign of real life she'd seen in him so far. His fingers twitched. After several more moments, they flexed, drumming against the table and cracking at the sudden action.

"Sir?"

He blinked again, quicker this time. His eyes closed momentarily, as if his brain was kicking back into gear and dragging him down to earth. When he opened his eyes, he moved his gaze to the brunette nervously standing by his table. His mouth opened as if to speak but no words came, only a pained croak. He seemed confused by this, a vague frown dipping into his brow.

"Sir? Are you okay?"

"Haru?"

There was the smash of the milk jug hitting the cobbled ground and Haru found herself knocking into the table behind her. She knew that voice – had missed that voice, had been looking for that voice all day – but the face was wrong. The person was wrong. The species was wrong. She was attracting attention and Michael was rising to his feet, but her eyes were only for the large stranger – if he was indeed a stranger at all.

She slowly approached the table again, sidestepping the smashed jug and coming to stare at the older man. "M-Muta?"

The man – not a cat, most definitely not a cat, how was that even possible? – struggled to form words, as if stringing together coherent thought was almost beyond him. He rubbed one large hand across his forehead, soothing whatever pain was present there. "What... How... How long have I been here?"

"I don't know," Haru answered truthfully. "Hours, maybe." Her friend's lack of speech scared her more than she was about to admit. Muta was loud, Muta was blunt, and Muta always, _always_ had something to say. "Come on, we need to get you back to the Bureau. Baron and Toto have been worried sick."

Something resembling Muta's usual smirk curled at the corners of his mouth. "Don't tell me Birdbrain actually cares," he mocked weakly.

"Haru, what's going on? Is everything alright?" Michael had joined them, worry lining his features.

The young woman shook her head. "He's a friend," she said, motioning towards the very human version of Muta. "I need to get him back to his home. I'm sorry – I know you wanted to go out for tea, but I really..." She looked to the ex-cat, relief and fear mixing potently in her stomach. "He's not himself," she eventually concluded.

Michael glumly nodded. "I understand. I could help, if you want–"

"It's fine. I just have to go."

Michael watched his friend prompt the stranger out of his seat and out of the Crossroads. There was something... off about the stranger; something that didn't seem completely normal. For the briefest moment, he entertained the idea of following after them, just to make sure Haru was safe. But then the moment passed and he scoffed at his own paranoia.

After all, what could possibly happen?

ooOoo

It was strange to walk to the Refuge with another human. Even if that human was Muta, Haru had become much too accustomed to walking by herself for it not to have a strange taint of surrealism to it. And Muta wasn't like Muta today, and that wasn't just because of the species change.

They arrived at the Bureau without mishap, and Haru knelt down by the miniature building. The door was still missing, so she could peer inside without having to wait. Baron was at the desk, a map of the town spread before him, with marks denoting where had been searched and where Muta still might be.

"Toto, have you checked the high street recently?"

"Yes, still no sign of him. And I've spread the word among the birds; if he's spotted, we'll know about it."

Baron stared down at the map, running one gloved hand across his brow and stopping with his palm pressed against his forehead, his eyes closing in frustration. "We might have to consider other possibilities," he said quietly. "Other worlds, the gutter..."

"Baron?"

The cat Creation snapped his gaze up, caught in the midst of considering the worse-case scenarios and his eyes betraying the apology for it. "Haru. I'm sorry, we still haven't–"

"I know. But I have."

"You have?"

"Where was he? I'm going to skin that ball of fat when I see him!" Toto retorted, shuffling towards the Bureau's balcony doors. "After all the worry he put us through and now he just turns up fine!"

"I... wouldn't exactly say that," Haru muttered.

Baron stopped his hasty exit of the Bureau and carefully looked to Haru. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well... see for yourself." She moved aside and now the undeniably human form of Muta could be seen standing in the middle of the courtyard. She looked back to the two Creations, watching their slow-dawning comprehension. Baron was the first to recover.

"Of course," he whispered.

Toto reverted back to normal several seconds later, flying straight for the man with a cawing laugh. "And I thought you were fat as a cat!" he cackled. "Look at yourself now, butterball!"

Muta took several steps back from the hysterical crow, raising one podgy fist in the creature's direction in some of his old fire. "Say that again and I'll use you for a Sunday roast! I'll – ah." His fist clenched and his other hand quickly rose to his head, massaging his brow. For that first moment when he had seen Toto, Haru had dared to hope that Muta had at least partially returned to normal, but now she saw he was still struggling to think straight. This hadn't gone unnoticed by either of the Creations either.

"Muta? Muta, are you quite alright?"

"Yeah, Baron, I just... I just got this splitting headache." He heavily sat down against the archway, huffing tiredly and rubbing one large palm against his eyes. "I'll... be fine in a moment."

Baron nodded, unconvinced. "I think I have some cake still in the cupboard; it won't be much at your current size, but I presume you will still want some?" Baron tilted his head to one side, watching Muta's muted reaction. A little of his smile slipped away when his friend failed to jump up at the mention of food. He looked to Haru, who silently communicated the fact that this had been the norm with Muta since finding him human.

Leaving Toto to keep an eye on Muta – who was drifting out into sleep – Haru followed Baron into the Bureau. She knelt carefully inside while the cat Creation set to work organising the cake. "What's wrong with him, Baron?" she whispered. "I mean, it's not just that he's human, is it? There's something more."

Baron sighed, his gloved hands dropping to rest against the cabinet surface for support. "Experimental shapeshifting is unpredictable; the specific details can differ from individual to individual, but unnatural shapeshifting always results in a reshuffling of the mind. As was seen in Balthazar. The dogs. The shark."

"So you're saying...?"

"As of yet, there is no indication that he will grow aggressive like the others. However, he does seem... distracted." He set the cake to one side and began to make what looked like tea – at least, until he brought out a selection of mysterious substances from the lower part of the cupboard and started to concoct a mixture.

Haru watched him work, swiftly and curtly bringing the ingredients together with the tinge of magic tracing his actions. "What are you making?" she asked eventually. She leant a little further forward so she might catch a glimpse of his work. "Will it turn Muta back to normal?"

"No. I'm still working on a solution to that, but this at least should help clear his head."

He poured the contents into a jug, and balanced the cake in his other hand. Haru gently relieved him of the latter. "I'll take that," she said with a smile. "So if the drink works, we should have Muta with his usual mouthy self?"

"Hopefully."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've missed Muta's remarks over the last few days."

"The Bureau has been remarkably quietly recently," Baron agreed.

Once outside, the Creation stood before Muta and passed the jug – so cumbersome in his hands and yet tiny in Muta's – for the latter to drink. The ex-cat drunk it in one mouthful and abruptly started forward with a coughing fit. "Ugh – bleaugh – ew – who gave me the boiled grass?" He snapped his gaze to Toto with a glare. "Was it you, Birdbrain? Was this your idea of a joke?" He scowled, but the expression shifted into confusion when the crow didn't take the bait. "Hey, what's going on?" He moved his attention onto the rest of the Bureau, stopping when his gaze came on Haru. He frowned. "What happened, Chicky? You're tiny."

Haru looked down to Baron. The Creation only shrugged, as surprised by this short-term memory loss as she was. The brunette returned her attention to the ex-cat. "No, Muta, you just got bigger."

Toto sniggered behind a wing. "Not that you'd have thought that was possible..."

"I heard that, Birdbrain!" Muta raised an angry fist towards the stone crow, and for the first time he seemed to take note of the significantly un-paw-ness of his hand. He froze, his fist half curled in the air. He gently flexed his fingers and for a brief, un-Muta moment, it could be believed that he was going to take this development calmly.

"AHHH!"

Then again, maybe not.

"WHAT–? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? I'M – I'M –"

"Human," Baron supplied.

Muta staggered to his feet, nearly stepping on the feline figurine as he took a new look at his changed body. He stumbled to one side, hitting the archway and almost falling out of the Refuge. "I'm... No, there is no freaking way I'm human – I –" He stumbled again and knelt down before he hit the ground. "I miss my tail."

ooOoo

"So the question is... what do we do with him now?"

"Well, he can't stay at the Bureau anymore, that's for sure," Baron said. Muta had been calmed down after the initial shock and was still outside while Baron was consulting the books in the Bureau. Haru had followed after him while Toto kept their ex-feline friend company. The cat Creation was flicking through his books quicker now, skimming through the pages at an alarming rate. "If I can just find a shapeshifting spell though, we may be able to resolve this problem before it gets out of hand."

"Out of hand?" Haru echoed. "Just what exactly could happen? Muta's Muta – he's harmless."

"Regardless, the sooner we get this returned to normal, the better."

Haru was silent for a moment, and then said, "He could always stay with me."

"With you, Miss Haru? Oh, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you–"

"Nonsense. Like you said earlier – he can't stay here, not the way he is now. And you're looking for a cure, so this won't be permanent," Haru said, and the more she spoke, the more it made sense. "He can just stay in my flat until you've found a way to reverse the potion. It won't be any problem." Apart from the potential food bill.

Toto had flown in to hear the last part of her argument. "You know, it would solve where he's going to sleep tonight," he reasoned. "And you haven't found a counterspell yet, so..."

Baron sighed and nodded in defeat. "Alright. Miss Haru, tell Muta the plan. I'll send word out the moment I've found a way to reverse this." He waited until Haru was out before turning to Toto. "Stay near her flat. If Muta does start to change like the others..." He hesitated, pain falling over his face at the thought. He ended with, "Well, you tell me immediately."

**ooOoo**

**Teaser**: _**Muta's knife had abruptly been stabbed into the table and only now did the man appear to see what he had done. He mouthed words that made no audible sound and gently removed his fingers from the handle.**_ _**His hands shook as he did so and the knife remained upright where it stood. / "We have to find Muta soon." "And if we don't?" "Then he will meet the same fate as the rest."/ Griffin opened one eye – his strange, inhuman eye – and there was a smile in its depths.**_


	8. The Strange Case of Renaldo Moon (Part2)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 8: The Strange Case of Renaldo Moon (Part 2)**

Hiromi was quite sick of secrets. She was sick of surprises and half-answers and she was not amused when Haru turned up late that evening. She heard the door open while she sat in the lounge, the TV blaring out an episode of something she was only half-watching and a microwaved dinner on her lap. She leant back, staring over the back of the sofa to see her friend enter. "Hello, Haru. You're late."

"Met a friend."

"Oh. Anyone I know?"

Haru laughed. "I doubt it." She moved aside and a man stepped forward to fill the girth of the doorway. Hiromi found herself gaping.

"What's wrong, kiddo? Are Haru's friends that rare?"

Haru snorted and elbowed the man. "Be nice, Muta."

Hiromi mouthed words, quite unable to verbalise her response. Eventually a strangled, "He's just so..." dropped from her lips. "I mean... he's huge–"

Haru abruptly sped to Hiromi and muffled her with one hand before she could finish that sentence. "Hugely unexpected, I know," she hastily interceded. She gave a look which indicated that Muta's weight was not something to be discussed. "You be nice too, Hiromi," she whispered.

"I'm always nice," Hiromi muttered between Haru's hand.

Her friend only rolled her eyes, but reluctantly released her. She turned around to see Muta disappearing into the kitchen. "Hey, Muta – don't just–! Oh, never mind..." She abandoned her friend to follow after the ex-cat. She arrived just in time to see him peruse his way through the fridge. "Muta, what are you doing?"

"What? I'm starved. Changing forms takes it all out of you."

"I don't doubt that, but I _do_ doubt that we have enough food to satisfy your stomach." She sped round and shut the fridge door before he could liberate anything from it. "If you don't mind."

"Chicky, I'm famished. I need food." He tried to open the door, but Haru leant her weight against it to stop him short. "Geez, if I knew you were going to be this stringent with your food rationing, I'd have stayed at the Bureau."

"Just... go back into the lounge. I'll get you dinner."

"I'm not about to burn the house down, kiddo. I can cook."

"Just... watch some TV with Hiromi," she sighed, and she pushed him in the direction of the hallway.

"Alright, alright! I get the picture! Sheesh."

Haru groaned and slumped against the fridge. "Why did I think this was a good idea?" she muttered. She ran one hand through her short hair, quickly trying to assess exactly what dinner she could cobble together for her friend. "Too late to turn back now, I suppose. Anyway, how badly could this go?"

ooOoo

"No! No, foul! Is that referee blind? FOUL!"

Haru entered the lounge to the shouting of her two friends previously left unsupervised. She paused in the doorway, a plate of fish and chips in her hands as she watched them scream abuse at the TV. She groaned and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the scene was still the same as before.

"Honestly, Hiromi?" she demanded as she set the meal down before Muta. "Football?"

"What?" Hiromi asked, nonplussed by Haru's disbelief. Her attention was immediately stolen back by the screen. "What is he doing? Idiot of a referee – anyone could see that was a foul! Wasn't that a foul? Haru, what do you think?"

Haru shrugged and perched on the arm of the sofa. "You know I don't watch football. And I thought you didn't either," she added, directing her remark to the large form of Muta.

"Your friend decided to introduce me," he answered gruffly.

"Do you even know the rules?"

Muta turned to Haru, eyes wide. "There are rules? I thought we just shout names at the referee."

Haru shook her head, biting back a laugh. "Close enough."

"He's very good at it," Hiromi said.

"He's had practice," the other brunette replied flatly. "Anyway, as much as I would love to spend the evening watching a bunch of guys kick a ball about, I need to head in for the night."

"Aw, so soon?"

"Yes, Hiromi. Muta, we haven't got a spare bed, so you're going to have to use the sofa to sleep on tonight. I assume that's okay?"

Muta grunted his affirmation and returned to hurling more abuse at the game. Haru grinned and headed to her room. She guessed things could be worse.

ooOoo

She woke the next morning to the smell of cooking bacon filtering through the flat. She smiled before she had even recognised the scent, and made to amble out of bed. When, however, she remembered that no one had cooked breakfast for her since she was a kid, she promptly upped her haste and fell onto the floor. Nursing the beginning of a bruise, she staggered to her feet and hobbled along the corridor until she came to the kitchen.

"Who on earth– Muta?"

The man turned at the oven, the frying pan in one hand and an apron Haru didn't even remembering owning tied on, the strings just about reaching the width of his girth. "Morning, Chicky," he grunted, and went straight back to the oven.

Haru came over to the side of the oven, watching her friend expertly manage the breakfast. "I didn't know you cooked."

"Course I do."

"I've never seen you."

"I've never seen you cook either, but I've never assumed you don't. Do you like your eggs scrambled, fried or poached?"

"Are you cooking for me?"

"I am using your food," he answered gruffly. "And you're here now, aren't you? Might as well cook for you too. So... scrambled or poached?"

"Poached. Please." Haru perched on the edge of the kitchen table, quite unsure where else to stand. "So do you cook at the Bureau? I didn't think there was a kitchen."

"It's bigger than it looks. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to judge a book by its covers, kiddo?"

"You're a fine one to talk right now, Muta."

The man issued a chuckling laugh and continued with breakfast. "True, too true."

"Although... I hadn't really pegged you as an early bird – erm, cat... er, man?"

"I'm not. To tell the truth, I couldn't sleep."

"Ah, I guess the sofa wasn't that comfortable..."

Muta grunted again and brought a couple of plates forward. "I just couldn't sleep, Chicky. There are nights when it's that simple."

Haru gave the ex-cat a strange look as he passed the cooked breakfast to her. "Muta, did you have nightmares last night?"

"Changing shape can do that. So don't look at me like that," he retorted and heavily took a seat opposite her, scowling at her sympathy. "I'm fine. Just... tired, that's all."

Haru didn't take her eyes off him though, and now she spotted something new. "Muta... you're shaking."

His large hands had been involuntarily shivering as he started on his own breakfast, but at Haru's words he dropped the cutlery and hid his hands by folding his arms. But now Haru had seen that weakness, she saw that his whole frame was less steady than normal. "It's nothing," he muttered, but Haru was quickly losing confidence in his assurances. "Probably just an after-effect of the potion."

"Muta, we should get you back to Baron – I'm sure he could find something to help–"

"I DON'T NEED HELP!"

There was a sudden silence across the table. Muta's knife had abruptly been stabbed into the table and only now did the man appear to see what he had done. He mouthed words that made no audible sound and gently removed his fingers from the handle. His hands shook as he did so and the knife remained upright where it stood.

"Sorry."

Haru had shifted her chair back at Muta's sudden reaction and only now did she allow the front two legs of her chair to drop back to the floor. She slowly leant her arms back onto the table, staring at the knife, then Muta, and back to the knife again. "Muta... are you feeling okay?"

"I'mfine," he mumbled, his syllables stringing together into one ashamed word. "I just..." He shook his head and added, "Headache" for way of explanation.

"Maybe I should take the day off work today – just to make sure you really are fine before leaving you alone," Haru offered.

"No, I really couldn't–"

"Muta, I get the fact that this must all be a big shock to you – I know that my own experience with shapeshifting was an ungainly one..." She laughed uneasily at the memory. "In fact, I think I became a tad hysterical, but... that's not the point. The point is that I'm quite happy to stay back if it'll help. That's what friends do, after all."

"I'm _fine_."

"So you keep saying, but I'm no closer to believing you." Haru gave him a hard look, her breakfast quickly going cold before her. "For goodness sake, Muta, for once in your life could you resist being quite so stubborn and admit that something is wrong? I'm not blind and I'm not dumb and as your friend I'm worried for you."

"I know, but–"

"No, no buts about it." Haru had taken her phone out and was punching in Michael's number. "I'm staying back today to look after you until everything has been sorted out. Baron's working on this, so it shouldn't be too long before you're back to normal... Hello, Michael? Yes, it's Haru. No, no, everything's okay, but I just..." She paused, phone to her ear while the person at the other end of the line replied. "Yes, actually it's about him–" She glanced to Muta, who was the evident subject of conversation. "Actually, he's here and he's not feeling too good, so I was just wondering if... Yes, yes please – that would be great! Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye... Bye..."

She ended the call and beamed over to Muta. "See? All sorted. Come on – we can finish up breakfast here and then I'll show you round town." She grinned. "You need to have something to take your mind off matters anyway. Come along!" She ate the last of the edible bacon and egg – what was warm enough to more-or-less cover the concept of a 'cooked breakfast' – and emptied the rest into the bin. "You ready?"

Muta reluctantly grunted and rose to his feet. "Alright, Chicky."

ooOoo

"And this is the shopping centre!" Haru sidestepped into the towering hall, with the gleaming elevators and glass ceiling above, where various water features cooled the bright interior and set a curiously musical backdrop to the scene. She grinned as the huge man followed after her. "Cool, huh? You ever been in here?"

"They're not particularly fond of cats," Muta only grunted. He shoved his hands into his pockets, but Haru detected a slight undercurrent of awe in his otherwise apathetic tone. "They've sure changed this place around since I was last here," he added in a mutter. "You a shopaholic then, kiddo?"

"Nah, not really," Haru admitted. "I just like the atmosphere of this place. It's so... open. Come along – I'll show you some of the best parts of this place." She dragged her friend along until they came to one of the open squares in the interior centre. Here the floor had a moving bubble projection played across it and as Haru stepped on them, the bubbles popped. "It's interactive," she laughed, seeing Muta's look of disbelief. Forgetting her age, she jumped from one bubble to another, the pressure of her feet running straight to the projection and causing the apparently magical reaction. She leapt around in a strange dance, pivoting and skipping across the ever-shifting pattern played across the floor and eventually pulling Muta onto the interactive area.

He stepped onto it and several bubbles – even the ones he wasn't directly standing on – popped. He scowled, making Haru laugh again. "I'm not that heavy," he gruffly told the floor. It only reacted by the popping of several more nearby bubbles.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Muta. Come on – try it!"

He gave her a blunt look, but finally began tentatively stepping across the floor. After a few intentionally popped bubbles, he began to grin as well and jump between them. Suddenly the fun had evolved into a game and the two of them were racing round to see who could pop the most. And then they both collapsed to the side, laughing and biting back the stitch that was surely growing.

"You've got to admit, that was fun," Haru giggled, wheezing as the laughter spluttered from her.

Muta shrugged. "Meh."

Haru elbowed him painfully in the side. "You're unbelievable."

"I know."

She only sighed in response, shaking her head as she pulled herself back to her feet. "I'm going to make you have a good time, even if you won't admit it," she adamantly promised, conviction lined into her face even as she spoke. "Being human isn't all that bad. And I know just what else you should see while you're here."

ooOoo

That day went by in a blur. It was a weekend and so the highstreet was busy with performers and bands, with karaoke round one corner and a percussion group around the next. She found a statue performer, all painted in grey and dressed as a gargoyle against one stone wall, and threw some coins into his hat to see him move, almost as if he was a mechanic monkey. By the town's quay was a rowing race; they stopped by there to cheer on the teams, betting with nothing each sprint's winner. She even managed to make Muta perform a shuffling dance to the music of the bass band by the cathedral. By mid afternoon, they were perched on the stone wall surrounding the cathedral's green, a pot of frozen yoghurt in their hands.

"I can't believe I've never tried this before – this... this is beautiful!"

Haru laughed, startling a few students fresh out of class who were on the grass below them. "It's like ice cream – except healthier. I think." She bit back another laugh when she looked at the pot filled high with a selection of sweets she was sure would kill a cat. Her own was considerably more modest, but she hadn't even tried to talk Muta out of choosing a smaller yoghurt pot. Especially if this was his first encounter with frozen yoghurt. "Honestly, Muta, you're like a kid at Christmas. Haven't you ever heard of frozen yoghurt before?"

"Sure. But it's got 'yoghurt' in the name, so I assumed it'd all be healthy stuff-and-nonsense."

"I can safely say that you've hardly gone for the '_healthy stuff-and-nonsense_,'" Haru assured him. "But I take it from your enthusiasm that you've enjoyed your day?"

"It almost makes being human bearable."

"Oh, really... what's so bad about being human?" Haru teased. She elbowed her friend, but to her surprise he stiffened at her light question. He shuffled away, turning his gaze to the grey-stoned cathedral stood before them.

"Nothing."

"Muta? Is everything okay? Did I say something wrong?"

He turned back to her and suddenly he was back to normal. He ruffled her hair, a wide, carefree, _Muta_ grin spreading across his face. "Sure, kiddo. Just guess I should enjoy this while it lasts."

"Did I... touch a nerve?" she asked hesitantly.

"Forget it. Really," he insisted when Haru's face refused to relax, "just forget it." He looked up to the sky and, unconvincingly, seemed to take note of the sun dipping into the high-rise buildings. "Would you look at that? Guess it's getting late – why don't I head back to the Bureau? Perhaps Baron's found a cure – wouldn't that be great?"

"If he had, Toto would've come," Haru pointed out quietly, but Muta didn't seem to care.

"Well, I'll see you later, Chicky." Before Haru had time to intervene, Muta slipped off the low wall and padded his way towards the Crossroads. By the time Haru had registered his hasty departure, he was already disappearing down a side street. She jumped off the wall and, pausing only to dump her empty yoghurt pot into a bin, sped after her friend.

Muta had already crossed the Crossroads and was vanishing down an alleyway when she arrived in the main square. "For someone his size," she muttered to herself, "he sure moves fast." She picked up her pace until she came to the small alley he had entered. When she did, she was surprised to see he hadn't got very far down it.

In fact, he was leaning against the wall, a huge hand to his face and his whole form shivering. She slowly entered the alleyway. "Muta?"

His gaze snapped up and there was something in his small eyes that scared her. "H-Haru, don't... Please... Stay there. Don't... Don't come near..." He groaned and doubled over, both hands flying to his forehead in obvious agony.

"Muta, don't be stupid. I'm not just going to leave you–"

"LEAVE!" Both hands had been dropped and that same look that had scared her returned in force. He closed his eyes and the madness receded, but his shoulder shook with an unseen effort. "Please," he whispered, and even his voice shook. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me? Muta, you would never hurt me." Haru slowly approached, raising one hand to support his shoulder. Before she could come near enough though, Muta's hand shot out and pinned her wrist to the wall. She cried out, pain shooting down her arm and body as the sudden movement jolted her against the side.

A madness was rolling in Muta's eyes, fighting against the reason and rationality that was battling for dominance, but his hand still didn't release Haru. "I... I can't control it. I'm going to turn... I'm going to turn like the others. I can feel it." His hand spasmed, but he couldn't loosen his grip. She could see in his shivering form that he was fighting back the pressure to strike out.

"Muta, I trust you," Haru whispered. She leant towards her friend, ignoring the survival instinct that was telling her to fight back and run. "You're a good, kind, one-in-a-million person and I know that you would never hurt anyone. You're stronger than that. So please... just release me and we can go to the Bureau and Baron will find a way to reverse this before... before it's too late..." Her voice hung hopefully in the air and slowly – uneasily – Muta fought to release Haru from his grip. As soon as it was loose enough for Haru to pry her wrist free, she snatched it from him and his fist clenched a moment later.

He slumped against the wall, slipping down as the beginning of rain began to fall. Haru knelt down beside him, but far enough this time to be out of range of his irrational rage. "Thank you," she whispered. "Now, if we just get to the Bureau–"

"I can't."

"Of course you can. You just get up and make one step at a time–"

"I can't without lashing out," Muta clarified. His transformation had been so sudden – so unexpected. He had been so carefree before and now he had receded into this terrified man slumped against an alleyway wall. Perhaps if Haru had remained with him – perhaps if he had kept human company – perhaps this wouldn't have happened. "If I move, I'll hurt you," Muta muttered. He raised his gaze to her and she saw that same madness again – shifting between a rage and a terror, with neither winning but neither sticking around long enough to win the battle. And then, between those moments, were the brief seconds of normality. Every now and then, the Muta she knew would appear in his dark eyes and then be gone a moment later.

"There must be something I can do," she whispered.

"Sure. Get Baron. Birdbrain must be close by."

"But I can't just leave you–"

His eyes flickered and, for just a second, Haru thought the rage had won out. But then it disappeared back into the ever-shuffling mosaic of emotions. "I'm not asking you," he grunted. "I'm ordering. Get going, kiddo."

"I can't–"

His eyes returned to Muta and his lips curved up into a familiar sarcastic smile. "Always so contradictory. You're impossible. Now go."

Where was Toto? She had seen him all day, flying overhead and trailing them, but now he was gone. Perhaps they had run too fast; perhaps they had left the wall just when he wasn't looking. Whatever the reason, he wasn't here now. She patted Muta's hand, and felt him shaking still. "I'll be back," she promised.

And then she ran.

ooOoo

She found him at the Refuge. In losing sight of them, Toto had returned to base, in assumption that they would be coming that way soon anyway. But, on the young brunette arriving alone and red-eyed, the two Creations knew that not all was right. She stumbled inside the Refuge and collapsed against the column in the centre, her breath coming out in half gasps and sobs.

"Miss Haru, what is the problem? Where is Muta?"

"He's... Oh, Baron, he's changing..." She only just resisted the temptation to sink to the ground and collapse entirely; as things were, though, she shakily remained on her feet. "He's changing like the others – I think... I think we're losing him. Please, tell me we have a way to reverse it. We must!"

Baron looked to Toto, who also looked stricken at the news. "We have a plan. But it would require luring him back here. What state is he in?"

"I think he's almost gone," Haru said truthfully.

"Where is he?"

"Back... back there," she said, motioning out of the Refuge. "Near the Crossroads, though goodness knows whether he's still there. What do you have in mind?"

"If turning him to human did this, then reverting him to cat should reverse the mental instability–"

"And we have a plan for that?"

Baron smiled bitterly. "One we should have seen instantly." He leapt onto Toto's back and the stone crow rose into the air. "The Cat Kingdom."

"Why does it sound more complicated than just that?"

"Interworld portals require stable, established connections. Creating a new one would take too long, so the only ones locally are the Cat Paw Lake and the one in the Refuge," Baron explained, gesturing to the empty archway behind him. "We must bring Muta here."

"I don't think he's going to come willingly," Haru said.

The cat Creation passed across a small blue stone. "Intraworld portal," he hastily explained. "Attuned to the Refuge – it should lead straight back here when activated. But we have to find Muta soon."

"And if we don't?"

Baron shook his head. "Then he will meet the same fate as the rest."

ooOoo

What had originally started out as light rain had turned into hailing sleet and Muta was forced to run for cover. As the afternoon turned into evening, the streets became initially emptier and he found refuge in an alleyway where few humans passed through. The instinct to lash out was becoming stronger now; every person who passed by stirred an irrational hatred and the shivering worsened, and he found himself curling into a tighter ball to resist the desire. For a while, he began to hope that he would make it through the night, and then midnight passed.

There were many alleyways, Muta understood that, and he had fled from the one Haru had left him in, and so it was obvious the Bureau was struggling to locate him. But now it was past midnight in town on a weekend night and people were beginning to mill in and out of the booming clubs and bars, each set becoming drunker than the last. An inebriated couple passed by, unaware of the danger the apparently homeless individual posed, and paused to issue disorientated, deliberate laugher at him.

He felt the beer cans thrown at him, striking at his jacket and spilling the sickly-sticky liquid across his shoulders. He heard the reiteration of the laughter, the dizzy and human laughter jumbled with the slur of alcohol and stink of drink. He lashed out before he could even think and his hand went straight for the throat, pinning the young man to the wall, his hand supporting him a good foot off the ground.

The stranger's gaze attempted to focus, his mind vaguely aware beyond the haze of drink that something was wrong, but unable to force himself into action. His brain, already dizzy from the alcohol, became more disorientated as it slowly became starved of oxygen. Muta watched the stranger's mouth form mute words – or perhaps he was speaking, but Muta's head was pounding too hard to hear them – and a strange, heady adrenaline rush streaked through his system. He found a sickening glee in the young man's slowly-dawning terror and the hysterical cry of his girlfriend, who was ineffectively striking at him.

And then the merriment slipped away for the briefest moment and he felt the terror in his own veins – the terror of his own actions, of the old Muta who knew this wasn't him – and he found that the horror in his victim's face no longer amused him. The anger receded long enough for him to take a new note of the man's bulging eyes, of the hands scrabbling desperately at his wrists, of the lips going slowly blue and face whitening.

He leapt back and the young man dropped to the ground like a stone, coughing and swearing but most definitely alive. His girlfriend knelt beside him to dramatically embrace him, both too shocked and drunk to really notice the huge man backing away. Muta knocked into the wall behind him and now he saw a few other passersby who had stopped to see the incident. Their staring eyes and whispering mouths prompted him into action and he ran.

He ran.

ooOoo

"What happened?" Haru elbowed her way towards the alleyway, where an ambulance was parked outside and a crowd of onlookers blocked the entrance. Medics were giving a young man and his girlfriend a check-over while the former was enthusiastically giving an account to what looked like a policeman. Haru glanced to the other people watching, trying to catch the not-so-subtle whispers flying about.

"Did you see what happened?"

"No, but I heard it. The girl was hysterical–"

"Not surprising if her boyfriend was being murdered–"

"Murdered? Please, someone obviously just got a bit drunk–"

"I heard it was a tramp."

"Seems all a bit fancy to me. Guy just probably fell over and was too smashed to realise what happened–"

"Nah, I saw the bloke run. Looked half out of his mind..."

"Excuse me – excuse me?" Haru edged her way to the proclaimed eyewitnesses who crowded the mouth of the alleyway. "What did you see? What happened?"

"Some homeless guy tried to strangle him," a girl said. She had enough make-up to make her appear orange in the lampposts' glow, with eyes exaggerated with the bold streak of eyeliner and mascara. "Saw it with my own eyes. Took a hand to his throat and all – if he hadn't released him, I reckon they'd be hauling away a body by now." From the intoxication of the alcohol, this concept made the girl laugh.

"Surely someone would have intervened," Haru reasoned.

"Nah, the dude was massive," another girl – identical, Haru thought, to the other – said.

"Tall? Wide?" Haru asked, and her heart was sinking as she spoke.

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Biggest guy I've ever seen! Why? You know him?"

"Not like this," Haru muttered. Looking back to the gaggle of giggling girls, she added, "Did you see where he went?"

"Sure. He ran thataway." They motioned vaguely across the street. "Police are looking for him, but from the way he ran, I doubt they're going to find him any time soon. Not that any sane person would want to meet him," one said. "He looked like he was missing a few cogs." She circled a finger at her head to indicate her meaning.

"Yeah, well... thanks." Haru began to back out of the crowd, pushing her way free of the crush of people. She ignored the various complaints and swearing as she tripped over a collection high-heels and stepped on dresses, but eventually she was out of the throng. Stumbling across to a quieter section of the street, she found the two Creations.

"And?" Toto prompted impatiently.

"He's been here. He..." Haru paled. "He tried to kill someone. He didn't," she hastily added, "but he almost did."

"We're running out of time," Baron muttered. "Do you know where he went?"

Haru pointed in the same direction the girl had done. "If we split up, you know, we'll find him quicker–"

"No."

"Baron–"

"If he's anything like the others, he's just as dangerous and just as liable to attack humans," Baron tightly rationalised. "You are in more danger than any of us and to let you go alone would be pure recklessness."

"Sounds about normal then."

"Haru!"

"Hey, if we don't find Muta soon, then it'll be too late. I can look after myself, Baron; I thought that's what we agreed. I'm sick of this argument, so just step aside so we can go our separate ways." After a moment, she added, "You know it's his best chance of survival."

Baron's expression didn't relax, but he nodded. "Alright. Be careful, Miss Haru."

The brunette made a tight, hoarse laugh. "When am I not?"

ooOoo

Muta stood on the empty grass of the cathedral green, beside the ancient building as the sleet poured down upon him. He lifted his face to the skies and savoured the rain upon his skin. The coldness kept him awake; kept him sane. Kept his mind clear. And, right now, that was like heaven's touch.

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

Muta's eyes snapped open and he turned to the owner of the voice. There, in the shadows of the cathedral and beneath the cover it cast, was a man. Muta waited for the now-familiar rush of hatred to fill his system, but it never came. Instead, a strange kind of kinship seemed to link them – a sort of recognition that he didn't recognise. "What are you?"

"Just another stranger."

There was a silence, save for the beating of the rain upon the stone of the cathedral.

"What did you mean by that?" Muta directed his question to the shadow where the man stood, his silhouette half-formed and half-distorted by the mixed rain and shadow. He could see the humanoid outline, but it didn't seem quite right. "About the rain feeling good? How would you know that?"

"Just an educated guess."

Muta's eyes narrowed. "Step into the light, where I can see you."

"So untrusting. And I thought we could be friends."

"I don't befriend faceless people."

The man tutted, and there was the hint of amusement in his voice. "Very well." The shadows shifted and a form stepped out of their secretive depths. "Happy now?"

The man's face was hidden by more shadows cast over from his hat, and his lower face wrapped by a thick, sodden scarf. His entire form was, in fact, hidden from sight by clothes and shadows so only his eyes – his strange, inhuman eyes – could be seen. They shifted with the show of amusement, as if entertained by Muta's antics.

"Why so silent? Don't you have questions?"

"I have a feeling you're not the answering type."

The man – if he was indeed that – laughed, the sound taking on a strangely sharp quality to it that didn't quite sound human. If Muta had fur still, he was sure it would have been set on edge. "True. Very true. But what about a trade for a trade? Say... names, at least? I'm Griffin."

"Muta," the ex-cat grunted.

"Excellent." The man now raised his head so he also felt the rain upon his face. His eyes closed in quiet contentment, evidently relishing the freezing sleet. "It's invigorating, isn't it?" he sighed. "Somehow, it seems to knock all sense back into you. For a moment... you almost feel human."

Muta was watching the stranger carefully and suddenly he saw through the woven deceit and straight to the entangled heart of the matter. An abrupt intake of breath pinpointed his understanding. "You're like me," he whispered.

Griffin opened one eye – his strange, inhuman eye – and there was a smile in its depths. "So smart." The eye closed again and he fell back straight into enjoying the rain. "He survived. If you're curious." After an empty moment, when it appeared Muta had little understanding as to the meaning of the comment, he added, "The human boy you nearly strangled. He survived. You haven't killed yet."

"How would you know about that?"

"I keep an eye out for others like me. To help understand how to escape the madness."

"So... you don't have to go mad?"

"Everyone does, eventually. It just depends on how much you want to be human." A slight shifting of his features indicated Griffin was smiling again, but this time with another slice of strange humour. "You're an odd one. You don't even know which world you live in... You can't decide whether you like this or not... It will be interesting to see how your madness goes."

"What about you then?" Muta snapped gruffly. "Why haven't you gone mad then?"

Griffin's smile only widened, but he did not answer.

"Hey, Muta!"

The ex-cat snapped his gaze up to see, to his horror, Haru sprinting towards him. He turned back to Griffin, but the strange man had already gone; fled back to the shadows from whence he'd came. He looked back to Haru and was horrified to feel the fury rising up in him again. His fists curled as if readying for a fight he had no desire to start. "Haru, don't..."

She stopped several yards away, standing in her thin coat with the rain sinking through and her hair darkened by the water, but grinning all the same. "We've found a cure – Muta, we've found a way to reverse this!" she shouted. She was almost laughing in relief; Muta briefly wondered, when his rage allowed him to, just how long she had been searching for him.

"You... have?"

"Yes! All you need to do is go back to the Cat Kingdom and you'll return to normal – you'll return to being a cat! Please, just keep calm enough to – to..." Haru broke off as she saw Muta's form shaking again. She had seen the first outburst last time; she was becoming familiar with the warning signs. She took several hesitant steps back. "Muta..."

He looked up, and his eyes were nothing but madness. His smile was not his own, but a predator's. A growl rose in his throat, an animalistic and yet mixed in with a taint of human growl and he raced towards Haru. Suddenly Haru could do nothing but activate the portal shard Baron had given her, spinning a blue portal in effect. Its swirling azure strands surrounded her and the two of them went tumbling through it.

Haru hit the cobbled ground first. She rolled away, knocking into one of the miniature houses with a blow to send her head spinning. A moment later the enraged form of Muta fell in afterwards and the blue portal disappeared. Gasping for breath, Haru rolled her head to see her friend winded on the Refuge's courtyard. She groaned and rolled to one side, her hand slipping across her stomach where multiple bruises were starting to develop.

Muta was staggering to his feet, but he kept falling back to his knees. There was something new in his movements, something less predatory and more... familiar to the young brunette. Haru shuffled round so Muta was between her and the archway where the clear portal to the Cat Kingdom was set. She could see it rippling slightly in the night air. "Muta?"

For several seconds, he failed to respond to his name, but then he lifted his head. The madness had slipped away, but that was far from reassuring to Haru. What had happened with the others? Madness, followed by a brief period of clarity and then death. If that was the same with Muta, she only had minutes before his heart gave way. Edging carefully forward, she repeated his name.

He met her concerned gaze, and a little of the familiar Muta was present in his small eyes. "Haru? Oh... I am so sorry for what I did – did I hurt you? That boy... did I kill him?"

Haru shook her head forcefully. "No. He's fine. I'm fine. Everyone's fine." She came closer and when she placed her hand on his arm, he didn't throw her off. "But you need to go back to the Cat Kingdom. You can go back to normal if you do that–"

"Normal?" Muta echoed brokenly. "What would you know of my normality?"

"You can go back to your feline self – isn't that what you want?" Time was rapidly running out. She could see his face already beginning to pale beyond what it had been before. His heart had a limited time and it was running short. "To go back to being a cat?"

Muta laughed, but the laughter seemed to pain him. "What makes you think I was always a cat?"

Haru opened her mouth, but no words came. A strangled noise quavered in her throat, but she could say nothing more. She was about to demand answers when Muta doubled over in pain. Her brain juddered back into gear and she realised they could only have moments. She smiled weakly and patted Muta on the shoulder. "Tell me later," she said, and then she pushed him through the portal.

ooOoo

The Cat Kingdom was having a peaceful day – it always had a peaceful day, but that was neither here nor there – when the human arrived. Or, at least, he was human when he first appeared. For, upon toppling through the unseen portal, he rapidly shrunk and began the unusually instant transformation from man to cat. For several seconds following that, another human – who shrank, but made no further transformation – jumped after him, with a cat and crow only seconds behind.

The now large, white cat stared up at the strange crowd as he lay in the cattails, wheezing weakly. "I think I'm about to barf."

ooOoo

"So... you remember nothing from the last day?" Baron prompted.

"Nothing," Muta said firmly. Despite his lack of memory, he had decided he was traumatised enough to warrant a whole cake to make him feel better, which was more than enough to reassure his anxious friends. He leant in, a large slice held between his feline paws. "But – get this – I had the most HORRIBLE nightmare – I thought I was a HUMAN!"

The rest of the Bureau laughed.

"What? Was something I said funny?"

"You have no idea," Haru sighed.

"It's good to have you back, you great pudding-brain."

"Hey, I thought you said you missed me!" Muta raised one fist towards the crow. "Cut the names!"

"I'm sorry, one look at your face and I can't resist myself."

"One look at your face and all I want to do is make pigeon pie!"

Haru rolled her eyes at the bickering duo, but couldn't hide back the smile. They had a lot to be thankful for – Muta's instant transformation to cat was, Baron theorised, due to Muta's form previously being a feline before the unnatural change, and so the reverting was a quicker process. Haru hadn't spoken of Muta's last words before he was pushed into the Cat Kingdom; he showed no memory of his time as human at all, and so there was no need to bring it up or mention it to Baron's explanation. After all, it could all have been the ramblings of a dying mind.

Couldn't it?

ooOoo

A little girl stood at the edge of the interactive floor of the shopping centre, tentatively nudging at the nearest bubbles while her mother talked to a friend and kept a tight hold of her daughter's hand. The young girl paused when a furry, white form padded through the centre and sat at the other side of the floor. The cat watched the bubbles floating across the floor and, ever so deliberately, pawed at one of the passing bubbles.

The girl tugged at her mother's hand, but her mother was talking and so only brushed her off. The girl gave up and looked back to the fat white cat. The feline was watching the bubbles with a confused air. It stared at them as if fighting to reach a memory or instinct that it didn't fully understand. It didn't even seem sure how it had got there; only that it had and now it wasn't sure what it was mean to do.

It hesitantly pawed at another set of bubbles and then suddenly, excitedly, it leapt onto the nearest bubble. It seemed to laugh as it popped beneath it, and jumped for the next bubble. The girl watched as it pounced from bubble to bubble, playing its own game for only it to know. Then it saw her watching and, just as suddenly, stopped. It stalked off the interactive floor as if it carried the dignity of the world on its shoulders.

But she had seen, just for that second, the joy on its face and now she knew better.

It looked like cats did smile.

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by: **_**The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael**_**. Written by Agatha Christie.**

**References:**

_**The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde**_**. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson.**

_**Primeval**_**. **_**Series 1. Episode 4. (2007) **_**Directed by Jamie Payne and written by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle.**

**ooOoo**

**Next Story: **_**Red**_**.**

**Teaser**: _**"So... where are we going?" "To another world. We need answers, Miss Haru." "And who is going to give them?" Baron smiled at the brunette. "A professional shapeshifter."/ "My daughter... has fallen in love with a human." / Haru regarded her now-human companion, her heart hammering away at the unexpected twist. Baron... **_**human**_**. **_**/ **_**When the dust cleared, there was only a wall before her. That, and the silence.**_


	9. Red (Part 1)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 9: Red (Part 1)**

The next time Haru arrived at the Bureau, the place was a flurry of movement. She watched Baron set up another portal in the archway, grinning as the air rippled with magic. "What's happening, Baron? Are you going somewhere?"

"Indeed we are. As are you, if you would like to come."

"I'm always up for a little adventure." She leant against the side of the archway, her arms casually crossed before her. "So... where are we going?"

"To another world. We need answers, Miss Haru."

"And who is going to give them?"

Baron stood, finished with the portal. He smiled at the brunette. "A professional shapeshifter."

He leapt through the portal.

ooOoo

Following after him, Haru found herself landing on the hard floor of a cavern. She winded herself against the cave wall, but slowly supported herself to stand steadily on her feet. Or, at least, she assumed it was a cavern; it was so dark that in blinking she saw no difference. She searched the blackness with arms outstretched, straining to guide herself without her sight.

"Er, Baron... Have you got a light?"

"Indeed, I do." A gentle glow began to chase away the shadows, growing from Baron's gloved hands and rising to hover above Haru's head. Now Haru could see the cave tunnel extended beyond the gleaming light of the orb, continuing to who knew where. She glanced down; in the orb's orange glow, Baron's eyes had turned a strangely golden colour.

"I am familiar with this place, Miss Haru. Follow me. Muta? Toto?"

They looked back to see the other two members of the Bureau tumble through the portal. Haru bit back a laugh. "Do I really look like that every time I step out of a portal?" she mused aloud. "It's just as well I have more important things to worry about than dignity then, isn't it?"

Her remark prompted a laugh from Baron and they set along the corridor. As they went deeper, Haru's nerves began to rise up – who could they possibly be planning to meet in this dim and dark place? Were they even guaranteed a friendly welcome? For, she was well aware now, Baron's contacts weren't always so ordinary – just meeting Darcy had been enough to prove that. If he called a half-siren friendly, then just who were they going to meet here?

"Er, Baron... Who is this professional shapeshifter you were talking about?" She had a feeling she should have asked before jumping so readily through the portal, but then again that wasn't much of a trait found in the Bureau.

"A friend."

"That's reassuring to hear."

She saw Baron smile in the steady glow of the floating light, evidently hearing the lack of sincerity in her tone. "Akairo poses no threat, as long as you show respect."

Haru swallowed back her nerves. "Great."

"You'll do fine, Miss Haru."

"Thanks. I wish I had your confidence."

"Take confidence in the fact that I have confidence in you," he answered smoothly. "Come, we're almost there."

The stone corridor gave way to an open cavern, the ceiling stretching far above to cathedral-like proportions, where the stalactites clung to the top like half-formed columns, straining to reach their stalagmite cousins below. Across one side, the rocks had been smoothed to a waterfall-like formation, the water flowing over many years to leave the mark of its path in its wake. At the far end, a shallow lake was pooled and the roof lowered so its reflection was mirrored in the watery depths. The air was so still and the water so clear that the ceiling's irregularities and flaws looked like a miniature civilisation reflected below. The colours took on a different quality here; suddenly the stone was green and pink and cream and... unearthly.

In the middle, a small island rose up, surrounded by its eerie beauty and empty air. The awe of the place enraptured Haru so she first failed to see the crimson-red form curled up on the island. She became aware that Baron and the rest of the Bureau had stopped and hastily brought her feet to a halt. Even Muta was remaining quiet. She could sense the respect as if it was a tangible force in the air.

Baron dropped to one knee. Haru remained standing awkwardly to the side, not sure whether she should kneel, curtsy or bow, or even if she could carry off any of them without falling over. "Your Supreme Grace, Akairo;" Baron began, "My Lady, we come in the name of the Cat Bureau, to seek answers to the dilemma troubling our world. A strange curse is afflicting the creatures, causing them to take on human aspects and become irrationally aggressive. We had hoped that, in your place of knowledge, you would have heard rumours of the source–"

The form moved and Baron ended his sentence instantly.

The individual moved again, the red shifting as a head rose above the rest. Glowing golden eyes passed over the Bureau and angular ears twitched at the newcomers. A sharp face stared down at them, the seconds ticking by at a snail's pace.

And then it untangled itself and leapt off the island.

It landed before them, its crimson paws delicately padding at the ground below it, and yet Haru felt like its feet didn't really touch the floor. The grace in which it moved made it seem possible that it could be floating instead. But Haru paid little attention to this; instead she found herself dropping to a kneel like Baron, words failing her. This creature... she knew of this creature. It stood before them, its nine tails drifting elegantly in a non-existent wind.

"It has been a long time, Baron." The kitsune's voice was like music; soft and beautiful and unlike anything Haru had ever heard before. It brought to mind the crystal hues of dew on a summer's morning, of the first blooms of spring, of laughter that bore no earthly worries. The creature nodded, dipping its beautiful head. "I know of what you speak."

There was a long silence.

"And?" Muta eventually demanded. "Are you going to tell us or not?"

Akairo raised her eyes to the fat cat, who fumbled back several feet. "I know not of the world where you will find the cause, but I know of the person who can lead you there. But no knowledge comes for free."

"What do you wish for?" Baron asked, before Muta could intervene again. It didn't look like the fat cat was about to speak up any time soon though.

"I have a daughter. I need you to find her."

"What happened? Your... Grace–" she hastily added.

"Supreme Grace," Baron supplied.

Haru shot him a grateful smile. "Your Supreme Grace," she amended. "I mean, why would you need us? We're just... well, us, and you're..."

"I have not the power to leave this cavern," Akairo replied.

Haru was about to ask how and why that was, when Baron saw the answer himself. "Your _hoshi no tama_," he murmured. He snapped his gaze from the kitsune's tail to her eyes, understanding flooding his voice. "You've lost your star orb."

"I... don't mean to interrupt," Haru whispered, "but what's a... a _hoshi_–"

"A _hoshi no tama_ is a gem that contains a kitsune's magic," Baron explained. "Without it, they are powerless to leave their lair or shapeshift–"

"Not entirely powerless," Akairo corrected. "But, yes, I cannot leave this place without it."

"Who took it?"

"My daughter."

"Why?"

A sadness greater than any sorrow Haru had seen before flooded the kitsune's eyes. "She is young," Akairo murmured, "and she doesn't possess the power to shapeshift. So she took my power instead when I was sleeping. I had been blind... I should have seen the signs." She saw the questions in the eyes of her guests, and so she answered them before they could be asked. "My daughter... has fallen in love with a human. But the humans here are a superstitious folk and look upon our type with suspicion and fear. Bring my daughter back before harm comes to her and I will grant you the answers you seek."

Baron nodded. "We understand."

He bowed in final farewell and rose to leave. Before he could cross the cavern, however, the kitsune called out to him. "Wait, Baron. As I said before, the people here are of a fearful nature; your appearance will spark more suspicion. Let me amend that."

Baron returned to the kitsune, looking tiny compared to the glowing, beautiful creature standing before him. He bowed his head again. "If you so wish."

Akairo smiled gently. "I may not have much of my magic left, but I have enough to do this." She lowered her head and the tip of her nose brushed his top hat. A spark of golden magic wove across his hand, spiralling down across his clothes and fur and circling him in shining arcs. Haru stepped forward to intervene, but Toto stopped her with a wing. He shook his head, warning Haru to stay back.

Baron was changing now, growing and shifting in the cocoon of light. He stumbled back, out of Akairo's reach, but the magic continued to twist and spiral about him. And still he grew. The light became brighter until they couldn't see Baron behind it at all.

Then the light died.

And now... a man stood before them.

His breath had been reduced to gasps and his arms were curled around his stomach. Green eyes blinked away the remnants of the magic, the light spilling out like golden tears that coiled away like smoke. The eyes blinked again and this time focused on the floor that had dropped away and now was more than a metre and a half further away than he last remembered it being.

There was an ungainly, un-Baron yelp and he stumbled back. He blindly reached out for support, but regained his balance before he fell. He stared down at the floor still, breathing heavily. The seconds passed with no apparent change from the newly-human individual.

"B-Baron?"

He snapped his gaze up, and then seemed to regret it when the abrupt action sent his head spinning. He staggered, but Haru caught his arm before his legs gave way. She glanced back to Akairo.

"What did you do to him?"

"The humanity is purely temporary," the kitsune gently assured. "It will last for a day; hopefully within that time you should have found my daughter. Do not fret; unlike the recent animal attack outbreaks, he will remain perfectly stable. There is no danger of insanity."

"Well, that's reassuring." Haru looked back to Baron, who was going a curious shade of green. She grinned sympathetically at the peculiarity of Baron ever showing weakness. "I think you need to sit down before you fall down, Baron," she offered.

He nodded and slowly lowered himself to the ground, kneeling while his breath was still short. "I think... I don't think I was expecting that..." he eventually concluded. His voice was reassuringly familiar; even as a human his voice was no different.

"I can see that." Haru's hand was still on his arm and it appeared he either still needed the support or hadn't realised for he made no start to move away. In fact, he had leant in slightly, as if still unsteady from the change. Haru regarded her now-human companion, her heart hammering away at the unexpected twist. Baron... _human_. His grey suit was the same as ever, his hair a tawny shade and his eyes... His eyes were the very ones she had become familiar with over the last few months. And now, even though they were larger, they were still distinctly feline.

"Haru?"

She became embarrassingly aware that he had said her name several times without her reaction, and now she bloomed into blushing at her inattention. "I'm sorry, I just... You're just... _human_," she eventually gabbled.

Baron laughed. "Yes. I know."

"You look... erm..." Handsome was what Haru had been about to say, but at the last moment her mouth caught up with her brain and the word died on her lips. She gibbered for a few staggering seconds and then ended with, "different. You look different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"Just... different."

Baron grinned and his smile became infectious; Haru found herself smiling right back at him. "Well," he said, "it could be worse. Come along." He staggered up to his feet, picking up his cane and top hat from the side, quickly aided by Haru. He grinned at her again. "Thank you. Time we located this missing daughter, don't you think?"

ooOoo

Beyond the cave, the dark interior gave way to emerald-green forest. Haru stepped out into it first, cautiously at the beginning, but then relaxing when she felt the sunshine filtering through the canopy of leaves. She laughed, spinning on the spot, and laughing again when she saw Baron following after her unsteadily in his human form.

"You'll get used to it, I promise."

"I never realised how much use a tail was until now," he explained with a returning laugh. He straightened up, breathing in the humid forest air. Toto flew along and landed on the ex-Creation's shoulder.

"Getting down to business, how do you plan to find Akairo's daughter, Baron?"

"Well, first we'll have to locate the locals. Toto, could you fly up and see if you can see anybody about?"

"Sure thing, Baron."

"And when we find the locals?" Haru prompted. She drifted about the small clearing between the trees, admiring the new world she walked through. She looked back to Baron. "I mean, Akairo said that they're superstitious... so we can hardly ask whether they've seen a kitsune in disguise, can we?"

"I have a feeling we will recognise Akairo's daughter when we see her."

Haru paused beneath a blossoming tree, which was like a willow with pink bluebells hanging between its leaves. Raising herself onto her tiptoes, she grasped for the nearest bloom and secured it between her fingers. It smelt like vanilla and lilies, a strangely sweet smell in the freshness of the woodland. She spun lightly on her heels back to Baron. "So... we're really in another world?"

"Yes." Baron joined Haru's side and, with his additional height on his side, drew a branch down to Haru, where she could now see the entwining blossoms and leaves about the vine-like branch. "Different world, different rules. Nothing's ever quite the same in any world." He glanced down to Haru. "Once you start to travel between the worlds, you become addicted. There's so much to see, so much to do... How could anyone sit back with that knowledge?"

"I envy you," Haru murmured truthfully. "I wish I could travel the worlds like you do."

"But you are. You can."

"I guess I am..." She stared up at the strange blossoms and suddenly the flowers of her world seemed so terribly ordinary. "But I'll always have to return home eventually. This is... wonderful, and amazing, but sometimes it feels like a... holiday. Or school trip. Like I'm going to have to remember that there is a mundane reality waiting for me when I go back." She shook her head violently. "Listen to me complain," she half-heartedly laughed. "You must think me so ungrateful – how many people get to even _learn_ of other worlds, let alone visit them?"

Baron laughed softly. "I would never think you ungrateful, Miss Haru."

"Baron! Haru! I think I've found people!" Toto landed awkwardly on Baron's shoulder, almost missing his landing – Haru supposed he hadn't practised landing on someone's shoulder too often. Baron wasn't exactly normally the right height for it. "Oops – sorry, Baron."

"Nevermind, Toto. You said you found people?"

"Thank goodness," Muta piped up. He waddled forward, pushing past Haru and Baron. "This conversation was getting much too touchy-feely for my liking. Where're we off to, Birdbrain?"

"The other way, butterball." Toto cawed an avian laugh and took off in the opposite direction. "Follow me – I'll show the way."

"More walking? I haven't got the legs for this!"

"Maybe if you exercised once in a while, you might actually look like a cat and not a pudding," Toto mocked.

"Hey, I resent that! Take that back!"

Haru rolled her eyes and caught Baron doing it as well. "Same as always, even in another world."

"I guess some things just never change," he agreed.

As they came to their apparent destination, Muta groaned. "Oh, holy mackerel. Another cave."

The Bureau regarded the swallowing darkness set before them and Haru couldn't pretend she was any more enthusiastic by the concept of stepping into those shadows than Muta. "Let me guess," she said slowly, when it appeared no one else was going to add anything else to the otherwise silent conversation, "the people you saw went in there?"

"Yes."

"Hey, you! You lot!"

Both humans jumped and Muta suddenly scouted behind them. Toto, who had been hovering nearby until then, took off to a tree above them and began to act like his species. Haru edged closer to Baron while a group of humans appeared before them.

The man who had shouted was the evident leader of the small group; he had a long coat drawn about him and dark hair streaked with the telltale signs of grey. His sharp eyes had been weakened by the wrinkles about them, but he continued to emit an unmistakeable air of authority about him. He wore comfortable, practical clothing equipped with a sword by his side. His companions were no less prepared for travel and/or fighting. A brother and sister pair stood further back, one with bow-and-arrows and the latter with daggers, while a young man stood beside the leader.

"I don't recognise you. What are strangers doing in our lands?" The leader glanced at the strange trio as he shot his question, his gaze not missing Muta hidden behind their legs. "Answer me!"

"Ah, we are but... travellers," Baron smoothly explained. He looked like he wished to perform a fluid bow but his balance refused to let him attempt it. Instead he merely settled for raising his top hat and dipping his head in silent respect. "Travellers coming through this land."

"I have never seen travellers dressed the way you do," the young man retorted sharply. He scowled as he spoke; an expression he had yet to break since meeting the strangers. "What business do you have?"

"None that would be of a threat to you," Baron assured him. He responded as if the other man wasn't barbing his voice with unspoken accusations. He sighed and returned his hat to his head and paced at the mouth of the cave. "But we are very curious as to what would bring you out here so... armed..." Baron's emerald eyes flickered once over the weapons the stranger wielded. "What is the occasion?"

"It's none of your business," the young man barked, and he made to move towards the cavern mouth. Baron didn't move, but his fingers flexed experimentally over the handle of his cane, a unmistakeably feline smile playing over his lips.

"Is that so?"

The young man reached for his weapon – and Haru was about warn Baron – when the leader placed a restraining hand on the man's shoulder. "Jack, calm yourself. These... travellers may have seen of those we seek."

"Who is it you're looking for?" Haru asked. The leader spared another glance to the young brunette, taking in her weaponless state and terse posture, before seeming to decide that Baron was the one to talk to. Haru gritted her teeth, but didn't bring up the blatant dismissal.

"My son has been bewitched by a vixen," the man growled. "Together they schemed to flee and marry in secret, but we heard of these plans before they made a clean getaway."

At the term vixen, Haru flicked her gaze to Baron. It appeared the man's specific terminology hadn't gone entirely unnoticed by him if the spark of interest was any indication. "A... vixen," the ex-Creation echoed casually. "Do you mean a kitsune?"

"That's exactly what we mean," the younger man – Jack – snapped. "It must have bewitched my brother – there's no other explanation for his sudden... infatuation."

"It might be love," Haru suggested softly.

The leader barked back a laugh. "Love? What would a kitsune know of love? Now, move aside strangers, if you have nothing more to add. My son has taken these caves through to the next village and we must catch up with them before it's too late."

But Baron didn't move. He merely stood there, his fingers playing idly over his cane while he regarded the group before him. "Then let us come with you," he simply said.

"What fools do you take us for?" Jack demanded. "You are strangers in our land – what makes you think that we might–"

The leader's grip on his Jack's shoulder tightened. "Now, now, Jack, we haven't the time to argue this." He regarded Baron firmly, taking in the ex-Creation's steady gaze and assured posture. Evidently finding the answer he was looking for, he nodded sharply and offered his free hand to the tawny-haired man. "Kenneth Kane. This is my elder son, Jack Kane, and these two," he said, nodding back to the other man and woman, "are Dee and Ralph Blasco. Siblings, and the best fighters in the village."

"Baron. Muta. And this Haru Yoshioka." The ex-Creation motioned for the brunette to approach, adding, "Valued friend and companion. Together I'm sure we'll find your son."

The two shook hands and it felt like a tentative treaty had been reached. Over what, Haru was not sure, but she could feel the tension binding them even as the peace was agreed. She decided it was much too fragile for her liking.

Things would have been a lot simpler without the villagers' arrival.

ooOoo

As they walked further into the cave's dank and dark depths, with only the dim lamps to guide them, Haru found herself walking at the back with the two siblings. Baron had been dragged into conversation between the two Kanes and, despite glancing back to Haru, couldn't disentangle himself without disrupting the hesitant treaty agreed.

Haru didn't mind not being with Baron; she had decided that the two Kanes were more than what she wanted to handle right now, and the two Blascos were of a much quieter disposition. Ralph was the one with the bow, while Dee had her daggers at the ready, although both emitted a calmer presence than the other two.

"So... what exactly happened?" Haru ventured. Muta waddled beside her, unusually silent with the villagers about him. "I mean, with the younger Kane and the...um, kitsune." She wasn't sure whether kitsune or vixen would go down better with these two. While the Kane family had shown overt preference for vixen, these two had been much too mute on the matter to determine much. Ralph only shook his head, the action going through a strange figure-of-eight motion as he walked.

"Not much to tell, I guess. Jethro was never much of a fighter, but he still went into the woods alone – that's where this all started. Everyone told him to sharpen his skills or go with a friend, but he never heeded the warnings and went out alone anyway. One day he came across a bear – stumbled right into its territory, the fool – and was almost torn to pieces. Would have been if the kitsune hadn't intervened."

"She saved his life?"

Ralph shrugged nonchalantly. "So he said. All we know is that we found him injured but alive at the edge of the village. If that had just been that, it would have been fine, but after that he began to wander into the wood even more frequently."

Dee laughed quietly; she had been silent until now, so to hear the sound of her laughter startled Haru more than she was about to admit. "You'd think that some people would avoid the forest after that, but not Jethro. He just kept wandering back."

"And then Ruby appeared," her brother put in. "She was..."

"Beautiful."

"Stunning," Ralph agreed. "The most fiery locks you've ever seen, and the most... golden eyes. She enchanted half the men in the village without even trying, all because of her beauty."

"Even Jack fell for her," Dee whispered. She glanced ahead, to where the scowling man was currently debating some small slight with Baron. Haru's heart went out to her friend and, not for the first time, she wondered whether she could plausibly excuse him from the discussion without getting dragged into it herself. She didn't think so.

"Jack? Jack Kane?" Haru echoed disbelievingly. It was hard to imagine him falling for anyone.

"Yeah. Of course, it was mostly because of her looks," Dee said, "but still..."

"You can imagine he's more than just a bit miffed that Ruby chose his own brother over him," Ralph evenly finished.

"It sounded like he was baying for her blood back there," Haru noted.

"He is now. Ever since it became known of Ruby's true... identity, the village has been up in arms."

"Neither of you sound particularly passionate about this manhunt though," the brunette remarked. "And it is a manhunt," she insisted before either could contest her point. "I mean, Ruby may be... not exactly human, but does that really require all of this? What if they're really in love?"

Ralph raised one light eyebrow, but there was something uncomfortable about his gaze now. "Then they better run fast."

ooOoo

Eventually Baron broke free from the Kanes and came to join Haru at the back of the group. Haru still caught herself staring occasionally at the _human_ Baron, just because the novelty had yet to wear off and he was, after all, _human_. They had been walking for a while now, with no sign yet of the young couple – a fact that, if Haru was to be truthful about, she wasn't sure how to take.

"So... do we have a plan?" Haru whispered. She didn't think the Blascos would particularly care if they were going to intervene, but she knew the Kanes would. And both were heavily armed. "I mean, we can't just let them harm Ruby, can we?"

Baron shook his head subtly. In the glow of the lamps, his eyes took on an eerie, feline aspect which made him look a little less than human. "I concur. We must do something."

"You... don't have a plan, do you?" Haru asked after a dubious moment.

"I improvise. It's what I do best."

"Right, but in this situation we have a manhunt on our hands that, unless it is turned around, is going to murder one innocent kitsune and possibly anyone else who gets in the way," Haru whispered furiously. "You know as well as I do that Ruby is in danger unless we intervene."

"And we will. Just... at the right moment."

"As long as that moment isn't in hindsight..." Haru ceased her grumbling and tried to move the subject onto something more productive. "So how are the Kanes doing? Still bent on revenge?"

"Unfortunately so."

The mountain around them rattled; suddenly the ground was shaking and the earth groaning. The group halted, their lamps rocking from side-to-side from the shake.

"Just a quake," Kenneth Kane called back. "No need for alarm."

Haru hadn't realised that she had stepped closer to Baron – or that he had stepped closer to her – but suddenly she found their shoulders were almost touching. She coughed awkwardly and stepped away. "Not exactly in the perfect place if an earthquake struck," she remarked tersely.

"These caves are centuries old; they'll hold," Baron assured her.

"Are you just saying that to reassure me or because it's true?"

"A bit of both."

"_Fantastic_," she answered sarcastically. She glanced nervously about the narrow corridors before her, uneasy with the walls that had shaken so easily only moments before. Baron appeared to notice her apprehension.

"Miss Haru, you're not claustrophobic, are you?"

"Me? No. No, I just dislike the concept of being buried alive, that's all."

"That's not the only fear you should harbour of these caves." Ralph had slowed and joined the couple. He appeared to have relaxed a little around them, for a smile – thin, but a smile all the same – had spread on his face. "Legend has it, there's a monster in this mountain."

Dee had also slowed, but mostly to keep an eye on her brother. "Ralph!"

"It's true, and you know it, sis'."

"Oh, please."

"They say it's the stuff of nightmares," Ralph said, his eyes lighting up with the thrill of the story. "No one has ever seen it and lived – or so I heard."

"If no one's ever seen it and lived, how do you know it exists?" Haru asked.

"There are the noises. Blood-curdling, awful sounds come from these caves. And there's the rockfalls–"

"From earthquakes, understandably," Baron rationalised.

"So you would think." Ralph shrugged. "But there are some who claim to know better..."

"My brother likes to tell stories," Dee apologised. "You'll have to excuse him; when he gets started he doesn't know when to stop."

Baron waved the woman's apology away. "No, go on – tell your story, Mr Blasco. After all, every tale has some true origin."

"You're not saying you actually believe that there's a monster down here?" Haru asked. "You said it was caused by earthquakes–"

"That is the most likely explanation, yes." Baron smiled at the brunette. "But in our line of work, we have to consider every possibility. After all, monsters are surely not the strangest we've encountered so far."

Haru paused. There was really no way to counter argue that point. "True."

The cavern rumbled again about them. Haru felt the whole group tense until the sound had died away. The echo of the quake bounced off the walls and, for that moment, Haru could see where the stories of monsters in these caves could have come from. The rumbling travelled down the stone corridor like unearthly growling, like a hunger waiting to be satiated. The group quietened until the monstrous rumbling had died away, but even after that their conversation continued to be subdued.

"I don't like this," Haru whispered to Baron. She stayed close by his side, the hair on the back of her neck rising with every new round of rumbling. Perhaps it was the dim light of the lamp, or the claustrophobic crowding of the cave, but the beginning of paranoia was raising its ugly head. She could sense the tension in the air; it was almost a tangible force between them.

Another rumble came, and this time the earth visibly moved. Haru laughed uneasily and her voice bounced off the walls to echo back, twice as hesitant. But then the sound was drowned out by a much more ominous rumbling; this time it was the cracking and groaning of rocks giving way. Before Haru could quite understand what was going on, she was pulled into someone's arms and away from the rock fall. The lantern's weak flame spluttered; in the flickering half-light there were only momentary images of rocks and dust and shadows shifting and falling before them.

The quake ended and the lantern burst back into full flame, but the damage was done. Their passage forward was now blocked by a wall of rocks, piled right across the previously open corridor and altering it into an unmistakeable, unchangeable dead end.

Jack, who had held one of the lamps, lifted his light up to the newly established wall. He swore. "Now what, Father? Father?" He turned, suddenly aware that the presence of his father was no longer behind him. "Father?"

"Over here."

Kenneth Kane was leaning against the corridor side, his right arm firmly held in his left. He winced as everyone's attention turned to him. "It's nothing," he grunted, "just a scratch–"

Haru realised the arms about her were Baron's only after he released her, moving forward to inspect the injured man. "Let me see."

"Are you a doctor?"

The ex-Creation gave a motion of the head which could be interpreted either way. "I have experience," he merely said. "Enough to establish that you've broken this arm. What happened?"

"Was too close to the rock fall," the man muttered. "Got hit." He glanced away from his injured arm to Baron, and something sparked in his gaze. "Those eyes... What... What _are_ you...?"

"The break isn't too bad – it feels pretty clean, but we should see about getting you back for medical attention as soon as possible," Baron said, abruptly rising to his feet as he spoke. He reacted as if Kenneth had said nothing, but his eyes betrayed the truth. His words were now directed to the whole group and not just the injured individual. "He may be confused – the injury is enough to disorientate him, so don't be surprised if he doesn't always make sense..."

"Wait a moment – are you suggesting we give up this hunt?" Jack demanded. He motioned behind him, regardless of the rock fall that now blocked their path. "Are we just going to let them escape? If we leave now, we stand no chance of catching up with them!"

"Jack!" Dee and Ralph stood to one side, the sister of the pair looking horrified by the man's hasty dismissal. "Your father is _injured_. I know you're worried for Jethro, but you've got to do what you can for those around you. Some of us should at least return to the village with your father."

For all his bluster, Jack quietened at Dee's words. He shook his head, slightly mollified. "Fine. Dee and... you two..." He looked suspiciously to Haru and Baron. "Help my father back to the village. Ralph and I will find another route through these tunnels. We will bring back my brother and that vixen before the night is out."

Haru didn't move from the back of the group. "I'm not sure that... that... would be a good idea," she slowly protested. Leaving Jack and Ralph would mean leaving Ruby's fate in their hands. That wasn't something she was prepared to do any time soon. "Perhaps we should all head back before we're not so lucky with the next earthquake."

"Dee, will you take my father and these two strangers back to the village?"

"For goodness sake–" Haru started.

"That was not a request!" Jack stormed over to the young brunette, his face blackening with rage. "My father may have deemed it wise to trust you, but from where I'm standing this whole mess began by accepting the unknown! We do _not_ need outside help in village matters!"

Haru took an involuntary step back. "I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, well we don't need it."

Baron appeared by Haru's side, his form bristling at Jack's tone. "Mr Kane, I assure you that we have everyone's best interests at heart here. Perhaps it would indeed be safest if we all headed back for tonight."

"Safe? You think we should play it _safe_?"

"But, the recent earthquakes–" Haru began.

"So we had one rock fall – so what? It doesn't mean the whole mountain's about to fall on our heads!" Jack snapped. "I say you go back and we go on and that's the end of it!"

The world around them shuddered, greater this time than any of the quakes that had come before.

Dust and pebbles began to fall from the ceiling above and Haru instinctively reached out for Baron. The world heaved. The mountain shuddered and the lantern was lost in the confusion; the world dropped into thick, solid darkness. The dust thickened and Haru could only feel her hand curling around a familiar glove now. And then the rumbling grew and this time it came from above. Suddenly Baron's grip shifted and she was pushed back instead, tripping over Muta as she went.

When the dust cleared, there was only a wall before her.

That, and the silence.

**ooOoo**

**Teaser**: _**This time it might be Baron who didn't come back. / "...every story starts somewhere, doesn't it?" Ralph asked with a playful glint. "And these caves have led more men astray than any other near our village. If you listen," he whispered, "this mountain can almost sound... **_**alive**_**." / "Look at his eyes," he whispered. "Look at them. They're not human."**_


	10. Red (Part 2)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 10: Red (Part 2)**

Baron found himself in a darkness so deep that in blinking there was no change to the quality of the air. He could only hear his quickening breath, his gasps echoing and pounding through his brain. He swung his head from one side to the other, searching in vain for signs of life. His hand reached out and brushed against the newly-formed wall.

He recoiled from it at first, and then slowly leant his palm against the surface. A brief moment passed and then he realised just what it meant. He moved to the dead end, both hands curling into fists and hammering at the stones. "Haru? HARU!"

The silence extended during which the lamp was tentatively relit from his side. The cave was slowly filled with the glow of the light, revealing the double rock falls blocking their group in. But no Haru was in sight. He had heard the rock fall – had known it was coming – and had believed he had pushed her out of harm's way. But in the confusion of the dust, he had seen nothing but the falling roof.

Suddenly there was a returning knock on the other side of the wall.

"Baron?"

Baron's legs almost gave way. "Haru! Thank goodness! Are you okay?"

"A... A little shocked, but... I'm okay."

There was an indignant meow from Haru's side.

She laughed breathlessly – evidently still in shock from what had just happened – and added, "And Muta's okay too. What about your side?"

Baron glanced back. "Nothing new to report here."

Jack approached him, lamp in hand casting a ghostly glow over his face. "Except that we are now blocked in with no way out. Hardly the most advantageous state of affairs."

"I'll get help – we'll find a way to shift this, you'll see!" Haru promised. "Would there be the tools to move this in your village, Mr Kane?"

"Yes, but you don't know where–"

"I'll find it." Haru thought of Toto, who would prove to be a useful asset in her search. "Of course," she added, doing her best to sound light, "I'll have to find my way out of these caves first!" Her laughter sounded hollow, even to her.

Jack grunted in a tone that implied he was unconvinced by her bravado, and paced away from the dead end. Baron sighed, the tension in his shoulders not loosening as the young Kane strode away. He leant against the wall, running one stressed hand through his hair – his remarkably _human_ hair. "Miss Haru, are you sure you're okay to do this–?"

"Of course I'm okay. I'm fine. I mean, I'm not the one stuck in these caves." Haru sounded mildly queasy at the thought, but seemed to be doing her best to overcome it. "Anyway, I can't just stay here, can I? Someone needs to get help. And I've got Muta." She laughed again, but the sound died halfway through.

Baron listened to the silence from the other side; if he closed his eyes, he could just about make out the uneasy breathing of his friend. "Miss Haru, it's pitch black that side, isn't it?"

Her breath quickened. "Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty dark."

The ex-Creation didn't speak for a moment. Despite not glancing back, he could feel the eyes of the group on his back. He dropped his head against the wall and his voice to a whisper, his eyes closing again. "Then take this with you." His hands glowed for a half-second, and then died away.

On the other side of the wall, a familiar shimmering orb grew into being. It gently hovered at Haru's head height, emitting a golden glow along the otherwise empty corridor. She tapped against it; it was cool to the touch. "Thank you, Baron," she murmured.

"Don't mention it."

Haru lingered at the wall, aware that she should leave to get help, but uneasy about doing so. She had always assumed her adventures would be with the Bureau, but now they were slowly being separated. And this time there was no clear-cut guarantee that they would make it back – not that there always was with the Bureau cases, but this time there was something different.

This time it might be Baron who didn't come back.

She leant against the wall, where Baron stood on the other side, and tried not to imagine that this might be their last meeting.

"Hey, Baron?"

"Yes?"

"Please... stay safe."

Baron smiled softly. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, that's what worries me."

ooOoo

There was an emptiness after Haru left. Now Baron was undeniably, irreversibly cut off from the rest of the Bureau. He was alone. He turned to his trapped companions and attempted to bring back his usual confidence; it would all have been so much easier if he had still been in his Creation form. The change of identity had left him more shaken than he was about to admit; this human form had so many more weaknesses and tired so easily.

He resisted the urge to pace, instead standing at the same wall where he had bid Haru farewell. He passed his gaze over the remainder of the group – over the elder Kane semi-conscious at the side, the younger stood tersely in the middle, and the two Blascos at the side. Ralph leant against the side of the blocked corridor, his bow propped against the ground like a strangely curving cane. His eyes moved over the rock fall Baron was beside.

"I suppose there's no chance we can move that, is there?" Ralph asked, only half-serious.

"Not with our bare hands."

Jack emitted a short, frustrated sound, and moved to the other rock fall. "We're not just going to sit here and do nothing–!"

"You're right. We're not," Baron replied. At the younger Kane's terse voice, a little of Baron's normal confidence and easy-talking had come back to him. If he knew anything, it was that this situation could turn ugly if he didn't step in. And Jack's contribution wasn't helping. He plucked the lamp off Jack and took a seat on the dusty ground, crossing his legs and setting the light on the floor before him. "If we're going to be stuck here, we might as well pass the time with conversation. Take a seat."

Jack scoffed, but didn't move.

The Blascos weren't quite so reserved. Ralph looked to Dee, shrugged, and sat beside Baron. His sister followed suit a moment later, hesitant but trusting her brother. "You sound rather confident that we're going to make it out of here," Ralph remarked lightly. He smiled. "Or is that all a facade?"

Baron met Ralph's even gaze. "I have faith in Miss Haru."

"You might do, but what about the rest of us?" Jack snidely retorted. "I say we work to pry these rocks loose–"

"And if we do?" Dee asked. It was the first time she had spoken since the second rock fall. "What if we trigger another fall? We haven't got the tools to handle that and we're in a tight enough situation as it is." She stood up, staring at the young man. "Mindless action won't help anyone, Jack."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Miss Blasco, may I remind you that you're nothing but a lowly guard? What makes you think that you would understand this situation any better than me?"

Baron rose steadily to his feet. "Now, we'll have none of that–"

"No... No, he's right." Dee dropped back to the ground, her shoulders slumped against the wall. "What would I know?"

Baron spared a glare to Jack and then turned to the slumped Dee. "Now, you know that's not true. In all my years, I've discovered that everyone always has something worth saying..." His eyes flickered back to Jack. "Even if some take longer than others." He looked back to Dee. "So why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Oh there is really not much to say," Dee muttered. "I'm just another guard–"

Ralph laughed curtly, perhaps even a little painfully at his sister's answer. "Really, Dee, you're underselling yourself." He smiled and drew an arm around her shoulders. "Dee here is the best guard in the whole village – she's so good that she's the first woman to be taken on as a guard at all. She's nothing more than incredible."

Dee blushed and tried to move away from her brother. "Stop it. You're embarrassing me."

"It's only the truth."

"Yes, but you put it in such a... _flamboyant_ way..."

Ralph rolled his eyes at Baron. "You see, Baron, my sister likes to pretend she's _normal_, when really that's the most boring thing one can be. Me? I'm not half as exceptional, but at least I'm honest."

"And I take it you're a guard too?"

"Certainly. I'm not half bad with a bow either, which is why I guess I also got asked to come along for this situation."

Baron tilted his head to one side, regarding the two siblings. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you come?" he inquired. His gaze flickered to Jack, who stood silently to one corner as he watched the proceedings with vicious interest. Baron moved his gaze away. "You appear to harbour little ill intent towards Miss Ruby."

"We were asked by the Kanes to come," Ralph answered. His eyes shifted for a split second to his sister and then back, but it was quick enough for Baron to doubt he'd seen the action at all. "The Kanes are well known and respected in our village, so... we accepted."

"He means I accepted," Dee amended quietly. "Jack asked me to help and I... I didn't want to turn down a... friend. Ralph only agreed because I did."

"I see."

"Food, anyone?" Ralph suddenly swung his bag before him and opened its contents to the rest, abruptly moving the conversation on. "It looks like we'll be here a while, so why don't we get ourselves comfortable?" He brought out dried meat and began to pass it around, flashing his wide, confident grin. "I've got a few stories that would help pass the time."

ooOoo

The cave corridors didn't feel any wider for the reduction of people, Haru noted as she fumbled her way in the direction she hoped would bring her out. She was alone, save for the now significantly more vocal form of Muta, but the walls felt darker – and tighter – for her newfound solidarity. She stretched out her hands as she walked, trailing her fingertips along the wall of each side, as if to reassure herself that there was no change in the corridor's width. The orb of light that Baron had given her bobbled just ahead of her, stopping whenever they reached a junction to wait for Haru's decision. The light was a welcomed addition, but even it couldn't banish the worst of the shadows lingering about her.

The corridor was thin, but tall, and the ceiling was now located a good ten yards above her head. It narrowed the further up it went, and its jagged surface jutted out at places so to leave long shadows where there should be none.

"How much further, Chicky?"

"I don't know, Muta." Haru had had the foresight to bring a jacket along, and her shivers meant that she had it pulled tight around her. It wasn't that the cave was cold – in fact, no matter how deep, it was always a constant 10C – but Haru's nerves were playing up. "Hey, Muta, how come you were so quiet earlier? I've never heard you so silent before."

The fat cat grunted and continued his waddling way along the cave. "And do you really think a talking cat would have helped issues at all back there?"

Haru almost fell over him. "What? Wait – other people can understand you too?" She didn't know why this came as a surprise - after all, Brady had understood him, but even so... she had always assumed her own understanding came from her own abilities to understand Cat. Which, now she thought about it, was something else she didn't understand.

Muta snorted and picked up his pace, just in case Haru was about to fall over him again. "Sure. It comes of living in the Refuge – after a while, it gets into your head. It certainly makes helping at the Bureau much easier."

"I can believe that."

"Anyway, all cats can talk – just some are more easily heard than others. And certain people listen."

"You mean... me?"

"Chicky, if there's one thing you should learn, it's that people only hear what they want to. You were just lucky that you had an open mind."

"Well, that's reassuring..." The thought of what she'd have done without the Bureau wasn't something she wanted to dwell over for too long. Without them, she wasn't sure she would have escaped from the Cat Kingdom, certainly not unscathed, and she certainly wouldn't be where she was today. Although, if today meant being lost deep inside a dark and dank cave with no immediate reassurance of an exit, she wasn't sure whether that would have been such a bad loss.

She picked up her own pace, keeping close to the orb hovering before her as she shuffled her feet after it. In its warm glow, she saw Muta's eyes gleam, as he turned to look back at the brunette. "Hey, Chicky? You okay back there?"

"Yeah. 'Course I am."

Muta's gaze hardened, and then he shook his head and carried on along the corridor. "You lied to Baron, didn't you?"

"What? No."

"You said you weren't claustrophobic."

"I'm–"

"I'm tactless, kid, not stupid. And you stink of fear."

"Gee, thanks, Muta. You're right."

"I know–"

"You _are_ tactless."

"Hey!" Muta growled and hurried ahead. "Don't get hissy at me just because I'm right. You _are_ claustrophobic, aren't you?"

"Alright. Maybe I am, just a little." Haru wrapped her arms about her and hugged herself as she shuffled forward. "I just... don't like the feeling of being trapped." She shivered.

"And you still came?"

"I can't just back down from something because it scares me."

Muta gave a chuckling laugh. "Now you're starting to sound like Baron."

"Thank you."

"Oh, you can take it as a compliment if you like."

The shadowed gloom gave way for a moment and Haru paused. The darkness had risen somewhat, giving way to the faint, tentative tendrils of sunlight. She raised her gaze upwards. "Hey, Muta... Look up there."

"What?"

"Sunlight."

Far above, at the top of the cave's corridor, there was a natural-forming gap. It was too high to reach and too small for Haru to have even entertained the idea of climbing through had it been lower, but it was sunlight, nonetheless. Haru could feel the barest of fresh air dropping through the gap, stirring the otherwise dead air.

The light blinked, and then a black shadow fell over it. Haru flinched, scowling up at the lost sunshine. "Muta..."

"Huh?"

"I think... we've got company..."

The light blinked again and this time something was definitely dropping down through the gap – and flying straight for them. The shadows further up no longer seemed quite right – in fact, they seemed to be moving, as if there was something in their depths. Haru stumbled back, her shoulders hitting the side as she stared up and her fingers flexing nervously. Her hands were moving as if searching for something to hold – or, to be more exact, for something to smash the creature with when it came within reach.

But the closest object she had to hand was Muta and she wasn't quite that desperate. Not yet, anyway.

So instead her hands curled into fists and she swung them back, ready to knock the approaching creature into next week–

"Haru! There you are! Where's Baron?"

Her hands went slack. "Toto?"

"I heard your voices coming through the hole, so I decided to investigate." The crow uneasily hovered before her; his species were not made for hovering like kestrels were. He quickly took in the glowing orb – which he obviously recognised as Baron's magic – and then Muta, Haru, and then the lack of ex-Creation. "Haru, where's Baron?"

Haru gestured numbly behind her. "Rock fall," she muttered. "He's trapped with the others and I need to get out of here so I can find help..." Her voice died away and she stared mutely at the light. She raised a hand and trailed a finger along the surface, watching the light shift at her touch. It glowed brighter, the glow gathering at her fingers and leaving a bright trail behind it.

Toto watched her silent actions. "He's fine, Haru."

"How can you know that?"

The crow nodded at the orb. "That was created by Baron's magic; it's linked to him. If anything had happened to him, we would see it reflected in this. He's fine," he repeated.

Haru sighed. "For now."

ooOoo

"...and so, the men from that day have never been seen since entering these caves," Ralph dramatically finished. He leant into the circle, where everyone else had reluctantly been pulled into listening to his enrapturing stories, even Jack and Kenneth Kane. "What happened to them? Who can say? Some claim it was natural causes – earthquakes or hungry wolves – but others say it was the creature who lives in this mountain. A creature of rock and stone, who controls the very ground beneath our feet. Who grows angry at those who pass its territory and traps unwitting travellers in the labyrinth of these caves."

"That's nonsense." Jack's words were uneasy, as if he was struggling to convince himself as well of the fictional quality of Ralph's words. "It's just stories to scare the kids, brought about by the earthquakes we get. I remember those kind of fairytales from my childhood; my mother told me them to stop me from exploring these caves."

"Ah, but every story starts somewhere, doesn't it?" Ralph asked with a playful glint. "And these caves have led more men astray than any other near our village. If you listen," he whispered, "this mountain can almost sound... _alive_."

In the sudden silence, the cave's being was brought into sharp focus. Their breathing was impossibly loud; their breath echoed off the stone walls and came back to them like the whistling whispering of the mountain. Beyond that, there was another quality of sound; almost like the groaning of the rocks or the moaning of the walls straining to keep the ceiling from collapse. And suddenly, for just those few seconds, the humans felt so very small.

A rumbling grew and small pebbles bounced as the ground shook. The whole mountain above them growled with the quake, surrounding and bearing down on its invaders. It lasted only for seconds, but that was long enough for the ghost of something... something _else_ to be heard in the rumble.

"Did you hear that?" Jack's eyes were wide, despite his dismissal only minutes earlier. His breath had caught in his throat and his face had gone white, even in the glow of the lamp. "There's something out there."

Baron caught the gaze of Ralph, who shared none of Jack's panic. "I heard nothing," he said.

Ralph nodded. "Neither did I."

ooOoo

"Whoa!" Haru struck out her hands to catch herself on the wall. She balanced herself even as the mountain rattled about her. "Another earthquake," she gasped. "They sure do have a lot of them round here."

Toto had tightened his talons uncomfortably around Haru's shoulder, not quite enough to draw blood but enough to make Haru wince. "This area – well, this world – is notorious for its instability. Earthquakes are a common occurrence here."

"Just as long as that's the only natural disaster around here, I think we're fine," Haru muttered. "I don't think we can cope with volcanic eruption being added to that list."

"Amen to that."

"You... You don't think a volcanic eruption is possible, do you?" Haru faltered after a dubious moment.

Muta laughed. "Even you're not that unlucky, kid."

Haru laughed back, humourlessly. "And now you're just tempting fate." She huffed to herself and carefully righted herself when the earthquake died away. She glanced up to the tall ceiling high above her, where a few stray pebbles and dust had dropped down. "I won't lie – I'll be more than happy when this case is over."

Muta grunted an affirmation, and then stopped. Haru almost walked into him, stopping just in time to avoid kicking the fat cat.

"Hey, what's up?"

The white feline lifted his head and sniffed at the stale air. His ears twitched back and forth, straining for any tell-tale sounds. "People," he said eventually. "There're people ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Muta snapped. He started to run, disappearing out of the safe glow of the orb until he was only a faintly white blur in the otherwise impenetrable darkness.

"Muta? Muta, wait up! Gee, for a fat cat he sure runs fast..."

ooOoo

"There's something out there–"

"Jack–"

"Can't you hear it?" The young Kane stumbled to his feet even as his breath began to come in ragged gasps. His fear had intensified since the earthquake, and now the returning rumbling was sending him tumbling over the thin line into terror. He raised the lamp, casting yet longer and more distorted shadows across the walls. They danced with the flickering flame.

Ralph, who had been doing his best to calm his companion, caught Jack's arm. "Jack! Get a grip!" he snarled. "It's just another earthquake–" A faint one at that; if it weren't for the rumbling, the quake would only be the unsteady shuffling of the ground.

"No..." Dee slowly stood to her feet, one hand trailing along the wall to keep herself steady. She looked to the others, her face whitening also. "There _is_ something..."

Ralph froze. "Dee?"

The young woman had one hand tentatively curled around her dagger's handle, her shoulders tensing. "Jack's right. There's... There's something in this mountain... Your story is true!"

Ralph grabbed his sister's shaking shoulders. "DEE! That was just that – a story! That's all it was! There. Is. No. Monster!"

The earthquake grew and suddenly their whole world was shifting around them. The walls shivered and shook and finally the roar of the rumbling was the only sound to be heard. Dust rose as the ceiling quavered and in the confusion the lamp was dropped. There was the smashing sound of glass and wood and abruptly the flame died.

They were plunged into darkness.

Now the light was gone, the air became thick and rancid with the stench of fear. The sound of panic rose until it overturned the rumbling of the quake; it mixed with it until it became one and the same sound; until it could have been mistaken for a monster in itself.

"What happened?"

"Where's the light?"

"Now, just calm down–"

"It's the monster!"

"It's after us!"

"Where's the lamp?!"

"We're going to die!"

Baron knelt down and began to search for the remains of the lamp; he found it in the form of splintered wood and broken glass. His fingers caught on the edge of the glass, cutting through his gloves. He hissed in pain and retracted his hand and, although he couldn't see anything in the pitch darkness, he could feel the sticky substance of blood spreading.

He gently edged his uninjured hand back to what remained of the lantern, fumbling until he found the snapped and scattered ruins of the candle. He sighed and dropped them back to the ground. They would find no source of light there any time soon.

"The monster is after us–"

"Now, just _calm down_!"

"Calm down? Calm down?!"

"How do you suggest we do that? We're blind–"

"It's just the darkness–"

"What if the monster is here?" Jack shouted back – or, at least, it sounded like Jack. In the darkness and echoing quality of their surroundings, people's voices became distorted and strangled. "It could pick us off one by one and we'd never know!"

Baron stood up. Ralph was having little success calming their companions and the panic was threatening to spread. It had to be a human trait, for even he was beginning to find his heartbeat speed up in the inky blackness. "There is no monster," he gently assured. "Now, if we just wait–"

"That'll be what the monster wants!"

"He's right–"

"I don't want to die!"

"NO ONE IS DYING!" Baron roared. He had snapped his hands together and the familiar flare of magic had sprung to life between his fingers, momentarily flooding the cave in blinding light. It simmered back into a soft glow and now Baron held the same kind of orb that he had bestowed upon Haru. He was heaving, his chest rising and falling in tight gasps as he glared down at his panicking comrades. "No one," he steadily repeated, his voice calming but abruptly full of ice, "is dying."

Jack looked to the orb that now floated above them, and then to the source of the magic. His eyes narrowed. "Just what are you?"

"I'm just a traveller," Baron replied steadily. He met Jack's gaze, refusing to waver. "I'm just a traveller who wants to help."

"You have magic." Ralph spoke up this time, pacing uneasily away from the ex-Creation. Something uncertain was starting in his eyes too; something... fearful, even. "You... You have magic," he numbly echoed.

"We needed light. We now have light."

"He's not human." Kenneth Kane's voice was faint, but it carried in the confined space. His breathing was heavy and laboured, with his gaze glazing over in pain, but he managed to claw his way to consciousness now. "Look at his eyes," he whispered. "Look at them. They're not human."

Jack neared Baron, who was finding a new sort of fear beating in his chest – one brought about not by the unimaginable, but by a reality that was quickly and ominously approaching. The younger Kane stared into Baron's wide, emerald and... and undeniably feline... eyes. "You're like the vixen," he growled.

"No – no, I'm just here to help," Baron promised desperately. He raised both hands before him defensively, where the trickle of blood from the glass was running across his grey gloves. Or, at least, he had assumed it was blood. Now he could see it was something different – something stickier and... amber. He curled his fist, but Jack had already seen the discrepancy. He found the man grabbing his wrist and bringing his injured hand forward.

"Look! Look at him! He doesn't bleed like us!" Jack wrenched Baron's hand open, revealing the sticky, un-blood substance.

The Blascos hesitantly approached. Ralph's previous conviction had gone; shaken by the truth surrounding Baron. "What... What is that?" Dee whispered.

Ralph – still the boldest out of the three despite his hesitancy – slowly lowered his hand to Baron's and prodded at the substance. It stuck to his fingers, oozing at his touch. "It's sap," he murmured. He looked to Baron, newfound confusion filtering through his gaze. "Tree sap."

It looked like Akairo hadn't had enough power to turn him fully human, but had done something else instead. He didn't bleed like this, not even in his flesh form or wooden; this was more like she had managed to turn him partly human but had also made him more wooden at the same time. He didn't like it. And now he was suffering the consequences.

"I mean you no harm," he whispered.

Jack dropped away Baron's hand, which the latter retracted with a clench of pain, and the true human stepped away. "What are you doing here?"

"Perhaps the stories really were right," Dee murmured. "Perhaps there are monsters in these caves."

Baron could see where this was going. He stumbled back, raising his uninjured hand in an attempt to pacify his companions. In his fear, the orb began to flicker. He appealed to Ralph. "Please, you know that the monster was only a story," he rationalised. "That's all it ever was. A story. You said so yourself–"

"Because I never had any reason to think otherwise." Ralph spoke his eyes hung low, his gaze staring down at the floor. He was miserable and uneasy and, worst of all, unsure. His eyes slowly rose to meet Baron's strange ones. "But now... you're here..."

Baron's shoulders slumped. "Please, not you too."

ooOoo

"Muta, would you slow down?" Haru sped around a corner, nearly slamming straight into a wall in the process. The fact that she wasn't so good in enclosed spaces wasn't helping either. "Just – just pause, for a moment!"

She turned another corner and stumbled into an open cavern. She gasped, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process, and stared up at a cavern that was so large that the glow of Baron's orb couldn't fill all its corners. She gaped, slowly stepping out into the blessedly wide space. It was remnant of Akairo's cavern, except with a more mundane touch – not that this took away too much of the awe. After stumbling through tight passages and airless tunnels, this open cavern was beautiful.

Eventually she remembered just why she had run into this place, and located the fat form of Muta speeding towards...

Two humans.

One was a young man, with dark features that echoed the Kane ancestry – but younger and less restrained than either other Kane men. The other person was a young woman with hair that matched her name, a long, beautiful face and eyes... eyes that weren't entirely human. Just like Baron's.

"Ruby? Jethro?" She stumbled back into a run towards the two strangers, Toto flying overhead and coming to rest on her shoulders when she reached them. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Do... Do we know you?" Jethro asked. He looked to Ruby to see whether he was the only one surprised by this meeting. But from Ruby's gaze, it appeared she was as nonplussed as he was.

"Well, no, but we know you. Sorry, 'scuse me." Haru doubled over to retrieve her breath, which had escaped during her run after Muta. After being sure that she wasn't about to hyperventilate any time soon, she stood back up to meet the two strangers' inquisitive gazes. She suspected the Toto on her shoulder wasn't really helping her look any more normal either. "Ruby, your mother sent us."

The disguised kitsune stiffened. "She did? What for? She should know that I'm not going back – I knew she would never accept–"

"No, that's not it at all," Haru hastily assured. "Ruby, she's your mother. She's just worried for you."

"Worried for me?"

"She said that the people here are... superstitious." Haru looked to Jethro, apologising for her gross generalisation. "She was afraid they would harm you."

Jethro nodded. He had grown up in that village; he knew the minds of his neighbours better than anyone. "That's why we had to get away," he explained. "We had to give them time to cool down before we tried to make them accept our decision."

"Well, I wouldn't say they've cool down _just yet_..." Haru started uneasily.

Jethro groaned. "What are they doing?"

"Well, right now? Not much. But that's only because they're currently stuck in a blocked-up tunnel awaiting rescue." Haru paused. "The rescue which I need to bring."

A little of Jethro's defences fell. "They need help, don't they?"

Haru mutely nodded.

"They'll panic – of course they will in that enclosed space," the youngest Kane said quietly. "The longer we leave them, the worse the situation is going to get." He looked to Ruby. "I'm sorry, but I have to–"

The redhead nodded. "Of course. They're your family." She looked to Haru. "I'll come along as well."

"Well, Ruby, there's something else we need to discuss..." The brunette hesitated. "It's concerning your mothers _ho-hosh_–"

"_Hoshi no tama_," Toto provided.

Ruby slumped. She took the talking crow for granted and moved straight onto the matter at hand, which was a small relief for Haru. "She needs it back, doesn't she?"

"She can't leave the cave without it," Haru agreed. "Please, Ruby."

"But I want – no, I _need_ to be human." Ruby looked to Jethro. "If I give it back, I give up all hope of being human. She would never understand that."

"Are you sure?"

"I asked her to turn me to human the first time I met Jethro," the kitsune explained. "She refused, which is why I..."

"You stole the _hoshi no tama_."

Ruby nodded. "Can we leave this matter until after we've helped Jethro's family at least?" she quietly requested. "I will see my mother, I promise. But I... I just want to pretend to be human for that little while longer."

Haru smiled sadly. She knew the kind of pain Ruby was carrying; she felt it every time she saw Baron.

At that point, the orb flickered. The cavern was cast into shadow for a mere moment before returning to normal. It flickered again, and suddenly the pulse of the light took on the pulse of a racing heartbeat.

"Toto... What does that mean?"

Toto's grip on her shoulder tightened. Haru filed this under _bad_.

"He's scared. No, he's terrified."

ooOoo

"Please, help will be here shortly – there's no need to panic–"

"Help?" Jack snarled. "You mean the girl you sent out?"

"She's probably working on your side," Dee murmured. "It's probably just another part of your trap."

"There. Is. NO. Trap!" Baron shouted. His voice bounced off the walls, mockingly echoing his last word.

"Just what are you anyway?" Ralph asked. "You never did tell us?"

"Oh, use your eyes?" Jack snapped. "He's another kitsune–"

"No–"

"Of course you'd say that – why would we believe you, fox? You're probably working alongside the vixen, aren't you? Was that what this was?" Jack demanded. "Was this all a trap the two of you created?"

"No, I just–"

"So what do we do with him now?" Dee inquired. She was naturally soft-spoken, but her question was heard by all. "Could we just... tie him up–?"

"He's dangerous – we can't just let him run free," Ralph agreed.

The orb was flickering faster than ever now; in fact, Ralph began to think that it was like the beating of a heart; he could even begin to hear the pulsing heartbeat throbbing through their confined space.

Jack grabbed Baron's wrist again and brought forward the cut, where the tree sap was oozing from. "He can bleed, can't he? He can be injured," he fired off. "That means he can be killed."

Baron wrenched his hand free and fumbled for his cane that he had dropped earlier. The moment his fingers curled around it, he brought it up before him, wielding it uneasily before him. "Please, I have no desire to harm any of you," he said, as calmly as he could manage, but he could hear the slight shake in his voice. He never threatened; not unless the person deserved it. And these people were just... well, people. Ordinary people – _scared_, ordinary people, which was the most dangerous of all. "Please, if you'd just listen–"

Another earthquake, this one as loud as the last, rattled the walls around them. The already-terrified people quavered further.

"He's threatening us!" Jack snarled. "Listen to him – he means to scare us with his powers – with his false lights and earthquakes – who's to say that the rock falls weren't accidental?" he demanded. "You meant for this to happen, didn't you? I suppose you were only sorry that the first rock fall only harmed my father, weren't you? You were probably trying to kill him!"

"The earthquake was natural," Baron insisted. He looked to Ralph. "Ralph, you know that – it was nothing more than a force of nature–"

Ralph dropped his gaze. "I don't know what to think."

"Don't be an idiot!" Jack snarled. "You saw what happened! Dee – you agree, don't you?!"

The young woman looked uncomfortable, offset by her brother's hesitancy. "I – I don't know..."

"DEE!"

"Yes – alright!"

"So we should get rid of him – before he gets rid of us!" Jack drew his sword. "Who knows what the next earthquake will do," he growled. "Perhaps it'll just split us up, perhaps it'll kill someone." He glanced back to Ralph. "What would you do if the next one killed your sister? Would you stand back and let this monster go free?"

Ralph's gaze hardened. "No."

"So we're in agreement."

Baron bared his cane before him, frightfully aware of the small space he was in. He couldn't just run from this; he couldn't just render them unconscious and flee. Again, these were just civilians – these were the people he was striving to protect. It had never occurred to him that he would need protecting... from them.

"Please, you're just letting your fear get the better of you–"

"No, we're doing something about it. We're removing the fear." Jack's sword smacked into the wall where Baron had been only seconds before; the ex-Creation rolled to one side just in time to avoid a fatal blow. With Jack's first attack, the others had been riled into action. An arrow skimmed inches from his skin and again he ducked away. He rounded away, but the next arrow nicked into his skin, drawing more of the strange sap.

He gasped, the strange feeling of human adrenaline coursing through him and rendering him breathless. He could fight – he could usually defend himself – but the additional aspect of his humanity had befuddled his senses. He wasn't accustomed to the adrenaline and the stress hormones, or the innate shaking reaction and they all flooded his system right now.

The orb was flickering worse than ever now and suddenly it failed to reignite at all. The cave was dropped into darkness and now the humans panicked. Baron only sagged against the wall, clutching at his injured shoulder where the arrow had hit. His fear had finally extinguished his light entirely and, even if he had wanted to, he could not have relit it if he'd tried. He only leant against the wall, vaguely aware that he was against the rock fall.

In the darkness, a hand finally found him. Baron was rammed into the wall of rocks, where stars spun round his head. An ugly, pained gasp was dragged from his throat and he dropped his cane as he scrabbled at the hand around his neck. He kicked out, but stilled when a blade's edge tickled his throat.

"Now, now, don't struggle." Jack's voice floated through the darkness, dripping with combined fear, hatred and madness, thickened by emotions that were holding back the floodgates of reasoning. "I'll make this quick, I promise Just a quick nick and then it'll all be over."

Baron was never quite sure what happened next. The wall behind him crumbled, spontaneously bursting into dust, and both he and Jack stumbled back. But Jack – and his sword – were pushed aside by another person – and now the cave was flooded with soft light. Light that apparently had no source; it just ebbed from the very walls around them.

Another form stepped forward. In her hands, she held a gem that shone with magic. Magic that had saved him. Her vulpine eyes widened at the chaos around her. "What madness is this?"

ooOoo

The man who had pushed Jack aside turned out to be none other than his younger brother – and Jethro refused to let Jack near his sword again even after he had calmed down. Dee and Ralph had dropped their weapons soon after the rock fall had been cleared, and neither had anything to say. When Jethro was reassured that his brother wasn't about to attack again – and his older brother was so exhausted by his fear and adrenaline rush that he didn't have the drive to attempt it anyway – he approached his father. The fear had left everyone shaking – shaking at what they had almost done and shaken by the radiance that had brought their actions into light. In the light, their fears seemed small and irrational – but their near actions loomed larger than ever.

Jethro knelt down by his semi-conscious father, glancing down at the arm he held clutched with his other. He sighed. "Father..."

Kenneth's eyes snapped open and focused startlingly sharply upon his son. "Jethro. You're... You're back."

The younger man nodded. "I am."

Kenneth's gaze flickered from his son to the redhead stood awkwardly across the room. "You brought back the vixen."

Jethro laid a steady hand on his father's uninjured arm. "I love her, Father. I won't give her up."

"I know." Kenneth dropped his head back, supporting it against the wall. His eyes momentarily flickered shut and his breathing seemed unusually deep. "The fear, Jethro... The fear drives people to murder. I saw it... Are we really no better than animals, Jethro? Do we really lash out at what we fear?"

"We're only human, Father," Jethro painfully answered.

Kenneth nodded. "We are. But... there has been enough fear for one day." Kenneth smiled weakly. "If you truly love her, and she you, then I give you my blessing. Perhaps that will repair the damage done today." In his eyes, guilt still hung heavily.

Across the cave, Haru had knelt down beside Baron. The ex-Creation was slumped against the nearest wall, a thin cut at his neck and the barest of... an amber substance dripping from it. Not enough to kill him, but enough to leave him shaken. Haru raised a hand to his face, to reassure him, but he grabbed her wrist. His eyes had opened, wide and unnerved. "No, don't..." He struggled to speak, his voice unusually dry with something that almost sounded like... fear. "Don't touch me."

ooOoo

Akairo listened to her daughter's plea. She listened to the recap of the events and of the eventual acceptance granted by Jethro's father. She listened to her daughter's claim that she was old enough to make her own decisions and her own mistakes but, most of all, Akairo listened to the love in her daughter's words. Finally she bobbed her head and said, "Return my _hoshi no tama_, and then we shall talk of your future."

Ruby stood before her mother, Jethro beside her and a normalised Bureau on the other. The redhead sighed and released the gem. It flew out of her hands and hovered above one of Akairo's nine tails. Suddenly a silver glow started at the tip of that tail and spread in spirals and silver web across that and the other tails. It grew across Akairo's form, crisscrossing itself and weaving across the kitsune's form until Akairo was silver from tip to tail.

Ruby had undergone a different transformation; upon releasing the gem she had silently and quietly slipped back into her fox form. She curled her many tails about her – she had under half as many as her mother, but there were still enough to hide her face.

Akairo jumped off her island, landing gracefully before Ruby. She smiled lovingly. "I missed you."

"I know."

"You love this young human, don't you?"

Ruby nodded.

Akairo raised her gaze to Jethro, who respectfully met her eyes.

"And you love my daughter?"

"Like the sun itself."

The silver kitsune sighed. "That was what I thought." She looked back to Ruby and rubbed her face into her neck, in a vulpine kind of hug. Withdrawing her head, she met Ruby's nose with her own. "You will always be my daughter," she whispered.

From Akairo, a silver strand of magic shifted around Ruby; this was a more potent and all encompassing kind of magic; suddenly Ruby's form was shifting in the silver smoke and magic. And then, just as suddenly, it dropped away and a human stood where the kitsune had stood. She looked down to her slender human hands and tears rose in her beautiful eyes. "Mother..."

"This is what you wanted. Who was I to deny you? As for you, young man." Akairo turned to Jethro, fixing him with a steely gaze. "You look after my daughter, you understand? If any harm comes to her, you'll be living out the rest of your days as a frog; do I make myself clear?"

"Good." Akairo's voice had slipped back into its usual charming self with deceptive ease. "And now, the Bureau..." She approached the small band of individuals – which only included one human now. She dipped her head in gratitude. "Thank you for bringing back my daughter safely. You have done a great service. And now, I assume, you want answers."

Baron nodded stoically. He had become almost mute since being rescued from the cave; since being returned to his Creation state, he had regained a little confidence, but nothing like the usual Baron they all knew.

"The person who holds the answers you seek is a man named Griffin," Akairo softly said. "You will find him in your world, in the very town you occupy; he knows how you will get to the world from whence he came. And I have a name."

"A name?" Baron echoed.

"A title."

"What?"

"The Doctor."

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by: **_**Kitsune mythology.**_

**References:**

_**Doctor Who: Midnight. **_**Written by Russell T. Davis.**

_**Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion. **_**Written by Russell T. Davis.**

_**The Little Mermaid.**_** By Hans Christian Andersen. **

_**The Lord of the Flies. **_**Written by William Golding.**

**ooOoo**

**Next Story: **_**The Beastly Man**_**.**

**Teaser**: _**Something else came from the Doctor's world...**_


	11. The Beastly Man (Part 1)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 11: The Beastly Man (Part 1)**

Jenny Hall, the Lion's Head Hotel landlady, prided herself on three aspects. One was her cooking, which was said to be the best in that corner of town, and another was her usually unshakable nature. The third was the respectability and good nature of her lodgers.

This latter aspect was threatening to fall apart.

She wasn't one to judge – or so she claimed – but there was something definitely _off_ about her most recent lodger. It wasn't just that he was always covered (although it didn't help) or that his eyes were strangely un-human (although she couldn't pin down exactly what they were) or even that he always paid strictly in cash (although that was suspicious) – but it was an amalgamation of simply... _everything._

But Jenny Hall was unshakable and she didn't let herself get carried away by flights of fancy, especially if the customer kept to himself and paid on time. No, until there was reason to worry, she wouldn't fret over such matters. No good came of poking one's nose in other people's business, at least as far as she was concerned.

Not all of the staff shared the same sentiment though.

There was Hiromi for one.

Hiromi was a good worker – and a dependable one – but she did like to ask questions. She liked to know. And just because the mysteriously-named Griffin was a paying guest didn't spare him from her scrutiny. She didn't let it interfere with her work – Jenny Hall would have no truck with that – but she could sense the curiosity rolling off the light brunette in waves. Hiromi could do that. She could ooze an emotion until it saturated the air.

"Why do you think he wears that scarf anyway? It's not like it's that cold and even if it was, you wouldn't wear it _all the time_. And not inside. Maybe he's disfigured – have you thought of that?" Working with Hiromi was more often than not bombarded with such chatter, and she idly wiled her way through making the guest's dinner while she waded through similar theories. Jenny Hall peered over her shoulder to check on the food.

"Not really, dear." Jenny Hall had done her best to avoid making assumptions on the matter of their sole lodger even if she had heard many theories like this from the young woman. She moved her attention onto the more pressing matter of dinner. "If you're finished with that, you can take the meal to our guest. Mind that you knock before entering, dear; you know how particular he is about his privacy."

Hiromi briefly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. It's a little hard not to notice that."

"Just take the food."

Hiromi gave a wide grin that made it hard to ever stay annoyed at her for long, and disappeared out of the kitchen with the tray balanced in hand. The hotel was a small establishment and their guest was the only lodger they had at the moment and this had done nothing to reduce the mystery surrounding him. Not that he had attempted to reduce the mystery anyway. He had barely left his room since leaving – or, at least, they had rarely seen him leave.

She arrived upstairs, the tray against her hip, and the other side of her hip leaning against the door. She knocked once. "Dinner." There were several moments of silence and then she opened the door inwards and swung in. "Didn't you hear me? I said dinner's–"

There was the rattle of crockery as Hiromi's steps halted. She didn't do anything as stereotypical as scream and drop the tray; instead a strangled sound throttled her word and her fingers curled yet tighter around the tray's sides. She froze, a rabbit in the headlights. "M-Mr Griffin–?"

Their lodger stood by the desk, a maze of books and notes weaving monochromic patterns across the wooden surface. His lower face had been freed from the scarf, but upon his unexpected visitor entering, it was dragged roughly back. He spun on the spot, his strange, inhuman eyes flashing with an animal mixture of fear and rage. A teacup was picked up in the same motion and smashed against the wall to Hiromi's left.

"Get out!"

"I just–"

"I said GET OUT!"

A book was the next to hit the wall, this time noticeably closer to the young woman. Hiromi stumbled back, slamming the door shut behind her just as something else smashed against the other side. Her fingers were now white from clutching the tray and she fled to the kitchens, taking the stairs two at a time. Once back, the meal – still steaming – was dropped onto the kitchen table and she sunk to the floor, leaning her back against the cupboards and her head on her knees.

Her shoulders were shaking. She couldn't have seen that. She couldn't. She had to have been imagining things; it was the lamplight, the angle, the shadows... anything but what her brain was telling her. She had to have been imagining things.

Because, if not, the truth was impossible.

ooOoo

The man known as Griffin hadn't moved from his stand at the desk. He stood staring at the slammed door, his chest heaving from the drain of the shock. The scarf shuddered with each ragged breath, the strange bulge in the lower face moving in the action. He closed his eyes and his fingers curled at the top of the scarf, fingering the edge in contemplation of removing the obstruction. A resonating sigh moved through the material and he dropped his hand away, his lower face still hidden.

His eyes eased themselves open to glance down at his gloved hands. He slowly curled his fingers shut and dropped to the ground, kneeling on the thin carpet with his hand still resting on the desk now above. "I'm human," he whispered softly. "_Human_. I can control this – I will... I will... I will be human..."

ooOoo

When Jenny Hall returned to the kitchens, she was surprised to find their lodger's dinner rapidly cooling on the side. She scowled at Hiromi's back while the young woman busied herself with cleaning the mugs.

"Hiromi, didn't I ask you to take the food to Mr Griffin?"

She watched Hiromi's shoulders stiffen. "He wasn't hungry."

Jenny Hall's sharp eyes picked out the gravy which had spilled out of the plate and was oozing its way across the tray. She made no remark on the matter but looked back to Hiromi. "If you say so." She turned to leave, but suddenly Hiromi spoke up again.

"Do you really think it's just a disfigurement?"

Jenny paused. "I'm sorry?"

"His face – Griffin's face – do you think it could be a disfigurement?"

The older woman shrugged. "I can't say. Whatever the reason, I'm sure it's his business–"

"Yes, but it's obviously not... not _normal_."

Something in Hiromi's tone made Jenny pause. She was familiar with the woman's theories, but there was something different in the way she spoke now. Something that seemed out of joint with her usual merry way. "Well, it's true that he keeps his face covered and that his nose does stick out further than most–"

Hiromi released a strangely hollow laugh.

"–but either way," the landlady solidly continued, "it's not for us to comment."

"But what if there's something... you know..."

"No, I can't say I do."

"What if there's something _wrong_ with him?"

Jenny's eyes turned steely. "Now, Hiromi, I won't have talk like that. The poor man probably suffers enough prejudice from whatever affliction he has; the least he needs is some ghastly rumour getting out of hand too. Come along now, you can see to the bar and I'll handle the kitchen. I'm sure Mr Griffin will find his appetite at some point this evening."

Hiromi left the kitchen silently, and as she entered the dim, alcohol-hazed air of the pub, her mind began to soften the memory. Reality flooded back, as so often happens after any shock, and numbed her to the truth of her eyes. Already she was discarding what she had saw in favour of what she believed she saw and manipulated the memory until it made sense. It had been a trick of the light, a mistake.

It had to be.

ooOoo

In the centre of a busy town, slipped between the thin folds between two realities – almost, but not quite a world in its own right – was a small, humble village. For the humans who lived near the doorway to this step off their world, the place was an oddity, an urban myth. The occasional wanderer would find their way into it, but on the second time – in their attempt to find it – the way back would be lost.

And so the Sanctuary was left unbothered by the Human World.

Today, this solidarity was biting back.

Baron stood in the heart of the Bureau, leaning on the desk that was hidden by layer upon layer of files. His normally crisp suit was ruffled by hours of fruitless searching and his shoulders were beginning to sag. He stared down at the notes in tired surrender.

Toto flew through the window and landed on the first floor* railing, his beaked face watching his Bureau companion.

"Any luck, Baron?"

"Unfortunately not. We simply do not have enough knowledge on the human town to locate this Griffin." He shuffled a few of his notes into a reasonably neat pile, only the tapping of his gloved fingers betraying an underlying nervousness. "I fear simply finding this man – this Griffin – will not be the end of our troubles."

"You mean we've still got to tackle whatever's in the other world?"

"If only that was all," Baron murmured.

"I don't quite follow."

"Akairo told us that this man knows how to reach this... Doctor's world; she gave us no indication that he would willingly help us." Baron moved away from the desk and approached the sideboard, somehow feeling that this was the right time for tea. Any time was good for tea, but this moment was in dire need of it.

The kettle was turned on without a thought.

"Akairo gave the impression that this man – if he is a man – came from the world that the animals came from; we have no way of knowing whether he is working for or against the cause of the animals' recent changes. All she told us is that he knew how to get to the world."

"It's been nearly three months since the birds' attack," Toto reminded him calmly. "If this Griffin fellow had been causing problems for that long, we would have heard of it. It looks to me, Baron, like our source wants to keep a low profile."

"Too low, apparently," Baron muttered. He stared back to the pile of useless files. "But the longer we take to find him, the more likely we're going to have another animal attack. We have to do something."

"Muta's already in town and Haru is doing some searching of her own," Toto informed him. "But I can do another sweep of the town, if you'd think it'd help."

"It might be a good idea."

Toto shifted on the railing so he faced the large balcony windows, but he paused before he took flight. He looked back to his friend. "You're welcome to join me."

Baron smiled softly, hollowly. "Not today, Toto."

The crow nodded sadly and took off into the evening air.

The cat Creation stared out into the twilight sky framed by the window, his mind lost with internal, circling thoughts. In the background, the kettle whistled its insistent cry, but was all but forgotten by Baron. He didn't hear the footsteps out in the courtyard, nor the knocking on the Bureau door. Eventually his guest gave up waiting and gently let herself in, but he didn't see this.

"The kettle's boiling."

Haru's soft voice cut through the kettle's whistle, and something in Baron's brain – or whatever he had in place of a brain – clicked back into place. He knew that voice, his head told him; it wasn't a voice he often – or ever – ignored, it said. So answer, that selfsame voice prompted. Wake up.

His feline eyes blinked and he finally took in the young brunette kneeling in the Bureau. He managed the ghost of a smile. "I'm sorry, Miss Haru?"

"I said the kettle's boiling," the human quietly repeated.

Baron's brain started to notice the steam rising in angry wisp from the kettle. He shuffled back into action, steadily falling back into his usual smooth movements, quickly but carefully pouring out a cup of tea and then look back to Haru. "Tea, Miss Haru?"

"Yes please. Just milk."

Baron nodded and poured out a second cup. All this took place without anything feeling out of place, but when it came to the cup being passed to Haru, the Creation hesitated just the briefest moment before moving close enough to let her take the drink. Haru made no remark, and she wouldn't have noticed it at all if she hadn't been looking for it. Looking and hoping that something might have changed since the kitsune incident.

It had been a week, and initially Haru had believed that everything had returned to normal. That they had all got through unharmed – but something had happened to Baron. Something, in those few hours stuck with the other humans, had changed him.

It had started with little things. Things Haru had initially ignored. He wouldn't meet her quite in the eye – he had preferred to watch his files, or his tea, or occasionally even his cane. She knew why – she knew that he was afraid to see the same spark of murderous fear he'd seen in the other humans. Humans who had very nearly – and would have – killed him, all in their terror. She had respected that. She knew this would take time and she could sense him trying to overcome this. She really could.

But the heart of the matter was that he was still nervous with her in the room. The heart of the matter was that he still hadn't left the Sanctuary since that day. The heart of the matter was that he was slowly breaking her heart.

"It's good tea, Baron," Haru numbly lied.

It wasn't.

Baron smiled gently, knowing she was lying, but still not meeting her eye. "Thank you, Miss Haru."

_Haru_, she wanted to correct. _It's Haru. Not Miss._

But she didn't.

She finished her tea and carefully returned the cup to the sideboard, just on the edge so she didn't come too close to Baron. "I just came to see whether you had made any progress with this Griffin dilemma, but I see you haven't..." Her eyes flickered, merely for a second, to the pile of abandoned paperwork on the desk. "So... I guess I'll be going..." Moving away from the chest that served as her seat, she shuffled towards the door.

"Miss Haru, there is really no need for you to leave."

Haru turned, her eyes focusing on Baron's. Green met brown for a scarce few seconds, and then Baron dropped his gaze. He lowered his head in shame at the fear he couldn't conquer.

Haru's smile became grim, bitter at the victory she didn't want. "I think there is."

ooOoo

Half a week had passed since Hiromi had seen their guest without his scarf, and already she knew herself to be mistaken. She had accepted that. But, as most trick-of-the-light incidents, the wariness had yet to fade. She didn't let this get in the way of her job though; she still smiled and greeted their surly lodger on the few occasions she saw him, and when Jenny Hall asked her to fill in for some housekeeping duties, she dutifully accepted. She took up the trolley, full of cleaning equipment and bottles, and wheeled to Griffin's room.

Unlike before, she knocked and waited this time. She sighed when there was no immediate reply in return, and waited a little longer. There was no sign on the door – she doubted Griffin had even taken notice of the optional "do not disturb" door handle notice – and so, after a few more insistent knocks, she opened the door and let herself in.

"Housekeeping," she called.

There was only the oppressive silence in return.

She gradually made her way across the room, dragging the trailing trolley behind her like a dumb and drifting dog. The wheels squeaked as she walked, occasionally getting lodged on random bumps of carpet. Its uncoordinated trail slowed to a stop when Hiromi passed the desk.

She had noticed the books and notes before; it was hard not to by the way they acted as a second layer to the desk. But she hadn't come close enough to read them before. Now she could see the wild scribblings that danced violently over the pages, single words stabbed into the page and ink smeared where hands had slipped. She drifted closer, her eyes taking in the words.

_Human. I am human. I will be human. _

_The symptoms have grown worse and maintaining this humanity is becoming a true burden. Mental capacities have broken down in momentary lapses. They are infrequent, but observations of other subjects have shown that the changes will become more severe as time passes. Unless I can find a cure, my time is running out._

_This world is void of magic and so finding a cure will be difficult, if not impossible. However, it is quickly becoming clear that my first plan will not suffice. I am slipping, whether I like it or not. I cannot–_

Here the words cut off abruptly, losing track of their flow and another train of thought followed – more or less – further down. Hiromi shuffled a few of the papers aside, barely able to comprehend the words and yet feeling a gut instinct that she had stumbled upon something... something _big_. Some of the notes and books looked to be focused on spells and the nature of humanity, while other paper contained the same rambling, circling round in the selfsame thoughts.

_Everything I do just makes it worse. I'm losing control. Soon I will be no better than those who came before me. The spells don't work. Nothing works. Soon the anger will take over and I–_

The words cut off abruptly, as if writing had become too difficult for his shaking hands.

And then, there were the blotted, angry words at the end.

_Human. I am human._

_I. Will. Be. Human._

Hiromi's nerves spiked. While she didn't understand what was written or even if she believed that the man might not be human, she knew that he believed himself dangerous and that was quite enough to worry about right now. Any person who believed themselves a danger would fulfil their own prophecy even as they tried to run from it.

And right now Hiromi needed to run from _him_...

Hiromi finally realised that the room wasn't entirely silent; in the en suite bathroom there came the whisper of running water. She had failed to notice so far since the locked door had muffled the sound, but now she listened she heard it. And now she'd heard it, it was impossible to ignore.

She was not alone.

She began to edge towards the bathroom door before she even realised what she was doing. When she did, she snapped her feet to a stop, acutely aware that the wisest thing would be to run... _now_. But something else – a morbid curiosity, an instinctive awareness – wouldn't let her. She dithered in the middle of the room, one hand still resting on the trolley for support even as she leaned closer to the door.

The door had only been partially closed; the hinge was half-resting in the jamb, so that the slightest interference made the door swing in a few precious inches. From this new vantage point, Hiromi saw the mystery man stooped over the sink, his constantly-worn gloves tossed to one side and his hands desperately engulfed in the tap's running water. He was muttering to himself, his scarf still wrapped around his mouth so that it shuddered with the rambling words, as he frantically cleaned his hands. He cleaned as if he was trying to scrub the skin from his hands.

Hiromi leant a little further. There was something not quite... _right_ about his hands. They could pass for ordinary beneath the gloves; eight fingers and two thumbs and more-or-less the right proportions, but the light danced eerily over his skin. There was a patterning on the back of his palms that almost seemed to be 3-dimensional. It was more than simply warty or disfigured skin; this was something different. The roughness on his skin seemed almost to be like...

"Feathers," she whispered.

Suddenly she realised that what had originally been passed off as a trick of the light had been undeniably solid; that this man wasn't so much a man, as a mockery of a man. Almost human, but not quite. But all this went on in the back of Hiromi's mind; she wasn't one for flights of fancy and to jump to the inhuman conclusion was not one that comes easily to most people. Still, she sensed the change in her nerves and registered the fact that she had seen too much.

Her instincts changed track and began backpedalling her feet. She stumbled once too often and smacked into the trolley. It rattled.

Griffin spun on the spot, his eyes glittering with the same mixture of fear and rage as before, and as he moved his scarf began to come loose. "You again!" His voice was more guttural than before, dropping into the realms of animalistic growls. His hands were shaking even as he snatched up the discarded gloves, but his fingers were shaking too much to drag them over his strange hands. His strange, inhuman hands that were pockmarked with the shadow of feathers. Even as Hiromi tried to back away, her eyes kept flickering to them. Griffin noted her reaction.

"You just couldn't keep your beak out, could you?" he snarled, his strange vocabulary doing nothing to diffuse the tension. "You just HAD to investigate, didn't you? Stick your beak where it didn't belong. Make a mess of everything." His voice didn't rise into a shout, it never rose into the same shout as before, and somehow this was scarier than before. Hiromi edged around the cleaning trolley and continued to backtrack to the door.

"People like you make it so... so _difficult_ to remain calm. You don't understand how hard I fight to keep my humanity; you just wander in and... and you've ruined _everything_." Griffin pushed the trolley aside. It skittered with a rattle and squeak of wheels.

"I... I didn't see anything – I don't understand what's going on," Hiromi said desperately. "I just – I just came in for housekeeping." Her hand waved weakly towards the discarded trolley. "There was no sign on the door, so I thought you were out and I just–"

"You just entered." Griffin walked past the trolley, the bottom of his trailing scarf catching on the corner of the cart. He continued to approach the young woman, unaware what had just happened.

"I did call," Hiromi said weakly.

"I didn't hear you."

"I'll call louder next time."

Griffin pinned Hiromi to the wall, his hands shaking. Hiromi could see the violence glimmering in those eerie eyes, but she could also sense the attempt to hold it back. Not for the first time, Hiromi wondered whether he was ever fully in control of himself. He always seemed to be struggling on a thin line between strange normality and ferocious violence. "See, we now have a problem," he growled, and his voice shifted between a flat tone and an all-out growl. "Even if you try, you won't be able to forget what you've seen and, as you've just shown, you're incapable of restraining your curiosity–"

"I'll learn–"

Griffin shook his head and a little more of the scarf came loose. Something smooth and hard – something that was certainly not skin – peeked into sight. Hiromi stared, more sure than ever that her eyes had not lied from before. There was something beneath that scarf and it certainly wasn't a nose.

"Why don't I believe you?" Griffin growled. His hold on her was shaking, as if he was trying to release her and keep her there at the same time. The instability did nothing to reassure Hiromi. "From now on, you're nothing more than a threat. A threat that must be eliminated..."

Hiromi twisted enough to get a hand free and jerked the scarf away from Griffin's face.

He reacted with a howl, one strange hand smashing into the side of Hiromi and sending her sprawling to the floor. She scrambled to her knees, clutching the side of her head and staring... staring at the place where a nose and mouth should be and yet... wasn't.

Griffin raised one shaking hand to his head and gingerly laid it over his beak. His eyes flickered to Hiromi. "Oh, now you've done it..."

Hiromi scrabbled backwards, shuffling across the carpet in terror. She had seen his exposed face before, but more in shadow than in light and so she'd never had the chance to fully appreciate the mutation.

His eyes – eyes that were clearly avian now – were sharp and angular and ferociously focused on the young woman before him. The previous fight to hold back the violence had broken and now only the rage remained. Where skin should have led to a nose, it instead shifted into the hard enamel of a beak – a predator's beak – that curved down and encompassed the whole of his lower face. It was impossible to imagine that the scarf had ever hidden the true nature of his face now that the true horror was staring out at her.

Hiromi backed into the desk and twisted round to hide behind it just as Griffin swung a chair into it. The desk rattled around Hiromi; notes filled with the wild scribbling flew off. She could hear Griffin coming closer to the desk; she could sense her time running out.

She rammed her shoulder into the desk, sending it toppling over. Now all the paper flew off and spun across the room like dirtied snowflakes, tainted by the dark ink. She fled towards the door while Griffin was struggling to re-orientate himself in the unexpected snowstorm, but he managed to grab her wrist before she got there. She was jolted to a halt that tripped her feet from under her. Griffin released her before he was dragged to the floor with her, but Hiromi hit the floor again with a thud.

Instinct more than reason made her roll away from the place she had dropped, just as the remains of the chair stabbed the carpet. She lumbered across the room, barely aware whether she was running to or from the door, only that she was fleeing from Griffin, until her side caught something metallic and shiny. She collapsed to one side and recognised the obstacle as the cleaning trolley. As Griffin approached, she clambered back to her feet and grabbed the nearest thing in the trolley – this turned out to be a huge bottle of cleaning liquid.

Griffin grinned as the weight caught her unawares and sent her suddenly kneeling. He, in turn, hoisted out a mop and snapped the blunt end to give the wood a splintered point. Even around the beak, he managed a smile, eyes still glittering with the disconnected hatred. While he had been doing this, Hiromi had been unscrewing the lid of the cleaning liquid. Griffin's grin widened.

"What are you doing now? Plan to give me a wash?"

"Something along those lines, yeah." Hiromi tugged the lid off and abruptly swung the bottle as to give Griffin a face full of disinfectant. She took in his agonised howl with a grim smile and swung the bottle again, this time catching the half-man in the side of the head with it. Blinded and bruised, he staggered back, giving Hiromi enough time to drop the cleaning liquid and race towards the door.

She got as far as the top of the stairway before Griffin had got even to the door. Hearing him, she glanced back, heart hammering as she realised that if she could only keep up this lead, she would be safe...

She missed the step.

Her shoes had been oiled by the cleaning fluid, so when she put her foot down it gave way. Her hand missed the banister and her other foot missed the next step. Suddenly she was falling and the ground and air spun into one continuous pain. Something akin to a scream was ripped from her lips and then stopped. She slumped at the bottom of the staircase, her eyes only managing to take in the blurred forms of people before it blacked out entirely.

At the stop of the landing stood Griffin. He was still framed by his doorway, and the rage was quickly subsiding into pure fear. Eyes of people turned from the crumpled form of Hiromi to him, and he backed away into his room. He slammed his door behind him and slumped against it. Even if they hadn't seen his beak, they had seen him; even if people didn't believe any accusation of avian traits from the girl, they'd still believe he'd attacked her.

He glanced down to his semi-human hands, still shaking with the distorted adrenaline rush. He clenched them shut, and yet still they shook.

He had to leave.

ooOoo

When Hiromi next woke, she woke to whitewashed walls and the unyielding stench of disinfectant. Her brain slowly caught onto these facts and informed her that she must be in a hospital of sorts. That was always good, she concluded; at least it meant she hadn't died.

Her brain took a moment longer to inform her of the form sitting to her right. Slowly she rolled her head to one side to see the familiar form of her best friend sitting beside her. She smiled weakly. "Heya."

Haru cracked a feeble smile back. "Hey."

"You look a little pale."

"Well, you don't look so hot yourself."

Hiromi released a cackling laugh. "Yeah, but I fell down a flight of stairs. I'm allowed to look not so hot." She pushed herself up, shifting the pillows so she could sit comfortably against the bedboard.

"So."

"So," Hiromi repeated.

"So you managed to get yourself attacked by a deranged lodger," Haru summarised. "Impressive."

"Hey, I thought you were coming to administer some well-deserved sympathy."

"Well, that too." Haru prodded her friend lightly. "I also came to cheer you up."

Hiromi glanced about the characterless room. "I guess this place _is_ pretty dismal." She looked back to Haru, smiling wider this time. "I hope you brought some sympathy sweets though."

Haru dropped a bag of chocolates on the bed. "Of course." Haru's grin died a little as she watched her friend. While she hadn't gained anything fatal, she had still fractured a bone in her arm, and was sufficiently bruised from the fall and attack. Haru had heard a few rumours since arriving at the hospital, including the claim that the lodger had rushed at Hiromi with a sharpened stick – with something that betrayed more than just the intent to scare.

"Hiromi..."

Hiromi paused halfway through her raid of the chocolate. "Hm?"

"What exactly happened?"

Hiromi tried to shrug it off. "The guy attacked me. What is there to say?"

Haru sighed. "Hiromi, we've been friends since secondary school. I know when you're skimming over something. Anyway, it doesn't make sense – why would he attack you?"

"He's mad. Why do his actions have to make sense? Hey, did the police catch him?"

"No. He scarpered before anyone could stop him."

Hiromi shivered, staring out to the open window at the far side of the room. Her eyes glazed out, trying not to imagine the possibilities. "I can't believe that a man like Griffin is on the loose..."

There was the smashing of a glass. Hiromi swung her gaze to see Haru jolted upright in her chair. The glass of water she had been holding had slipped, but she hadn't even noticed. "Griffin?" she repeated.

"Well, yeah... That was the name of the man–"

"What was he like?" A new ferocity had entered Haru's gaze. She looked like she wanted to shake the information from her friend. "Hiromi, who was he?"

"Just – Just a man–"

"Just a man?" Haru repeated sceptically. "Are you sure?"

Hiromi opened her mouth to insist, but then she hesitated. There was something about Haru that implied she would perhaps – just perhaps – be open to hearing the truth. That perhaps Haru might not discard her as mad for seeing what she had. And... there was a desperation about Haru which implied a need to hear the truth. Hiromi sighed and shrugged. "Maybe not."

ooOoo

Progress on the Griffin dilemma was going slowly – in other words, nonexistent – in the Bureau when Haru appeared in the Sanctuary. She barrelled into the small office, her new revelation suddenly changing the game entirely.

"He's a bird!"

Baron looked up from his tea, the surprise at Haru's outburst enough to make him forgo his recent unease. "Miss Haru?"

Haru realised she'd have to slow down a little more to bring her companions up to speed. "Griffin," she started again. "He's a bird. Or, well, he was... He's human now and... He's another one of the transformed animals," she started again. "Only he's a lot more human, except for the fact he has a beak and his hands still look feathery, but apart from that he almost passes for human..."

She looked around at the Bureau members, all who were ranging from polite curiosity to outright confusion on Muta's part.

"Hey, Chicky, you feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling perfectly alright, Muta!" Haru snapped. "Listen, my friend just got attacked by Griffin, so it's clear he's a danger and we've got to find him before he harms anyone else!"

"He attacked your friend?" Baron asked.

Haru nodded, sobered slightly by the memory. "She's okay... Well, it's nothing that time won't heal," she softly amended. She met Baron's gaze, and this time he held it. "Griffin fled, but I don't know where. The later we leave this, the further he may have run. Please, we have to act."

Baron's gaze dropped to his tea, but this time he gave a decisive nod. "Alright. You and Muta should search together, while Toto and I... fly overhead." He waited for Haru and Muta to exit the Bureau before leaping up to the balcony where the crow Creation perched.

Toto looked back to Baron as he took a seat.

"Do you know what this means?" the crow asked.

Baron nodded grimly.

"Something else came from the Doctor's world..."

**ooOoo**

**A/N:**

*** I know there's some confusion between the UK "first floor" and the USA "first floor" terminology. For future reference, I always use the UK terms, which means my use of the term "first floor" is your "second floor" – we call the USA "first floor" "ground floor".**

**Sorry for the delay - would you believe I forgot it was Friday?! It's just been absolute madness packing today; that's my excuse. So thank you for your continuing patience, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Cat. **

**ooOoo**

**Teaser**: _**Haru woke with an unsettling prickling running all the way down her back. Her eyes snapped open just in time to see something shift in the darkness beyond her room. / Griffin's hand shot up and suddenly those disfigured fingers were around her neck. "Just out of curiosity, how easy do you think it is to crush the human windpipe?"**_


	12. The Beastly Man (Part 2)

_ The Bureau Files: Series 1_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 12: The Beastly Man (Part 2)**

Darkness had fallen and all across town silence was steadily following suit. It wasn't that people were consciously aware of their trepidation; instead it came in a trickling of whispering, unnoticed instinct. Things had been changing recently; the streets had become that little bit more scary, the darkness that little bit more hungry, the fear just that little harder to repress. And, somewhere in the human psyche, the mounting danger had been realised. First there had been the birds, and then reports of giant sharks and demonic hellhounds, and the rumours whispered of people who weren't people but monstrous creatures.

Of course, humans were rational beings; they wouldn't give in to the pressure of superstition or silly instincts that came from a bygone age.

Not out loud, anyway.

And so when the shadow snuck across the car park, there was no one to notice. There was no one to watch it approach the block of flats and skim a shadowed gaze along the towering wall. The eyes picked out an open balcony window, the curtains rippling idly in the evening breeze. In the shadows of the individual's face, something shifted to resemble a smile.

It broke into a run from a standstill. Its form blurred in the faint moonlight and then jumped. It leapt from the ground and hit the wall and hands that weren't entirely human scaled their way up, swinging between window ledges and balcony supports. One, two flights were ascended; it travelled yet further and finally slipped itself into the appointed balcony.

It swayed there for several seconds, savouring the gentle breeze. The apartment before it was dimly lit only by the standby light of the TV and the red glow coming from the fire alarm. These pinpoints of light sparkled like crimson stars; alone and small in the grand vastness of space.

The form moved further into the interior, dark eyes becoming accustomed to the dim gloom and making out the different qualities of black sunk into the room. It drifted across the lounge, quickly mapping the style of the apartment and assessing the layout. The shadow stopped by an open door, eyes quickly scanning and making out a sleeping form slumped into a bed. Deciding that there was nothing to gain, the invader moved on.

ooOoo

Haru woke with an unsettling prickling running all the way down her back. She shivered and her eyes snapped open just in time to see something shift in the darkness beyond her room. Her breathing shallowed and she stared into the shadowy expanse of the corridor. Reason assured her that she had seen nothing. Shadows and monsters happened to other people.

Well, they used to.

Haru closed her eyes and restrained a sigh. Ever since joining the Bureau, she had quickly discovered that stuff could – and did on an alarming frequency – happen. So if she thought she saw something moving outside her room, there probably was something. And, knowing her usual luck, it was probably a six-foot-tall, fire-breathing monster with anger issues.

She swung her legs out of the comforting warmth of the bedcovers and eased bare feet onto the floor. Her toes sunk into the carpet and padded her silent steps. She paused at the doorway and glanced along the breadth of her modest apartment. With Hiromi still in hospital, the place was hers for the night and it had never felt so empty.

Actually, she had liked it better when it was empty, because right now there was something inevitably creeping around her apartment and she didn't even have a trusty frying pan in hand. She peered out further and spotted the light that always filtered from the front of the apartment. The front door's letterbox had broken in a previous spat with some oversized mail, and so light from the corridor outside the apartment always came through the small slit. It was enough to permanently shed some light into their home.

But now this light was flickering.

Haru conducted a quick weapon search but, of course, there wasn't much she could cause any damage within her immediate range. No helpful sticks or easy-to-wield chairs that she didn't mind breaking over an intruder's head, so instead she leant back and pulled a book off a shelf. Gauging that it was sufficiently heavy to deal out some decent concussion, she hefted it into both hands and crept out of her room.

Now she could begin to hear the telltale sounds of movement in the hallway. Scuffling, shuffling, and the separate rustling of something being rootled through. She tightened her grip on the book and snuck around the corner.

A silhouette was framed in the letter-boxed light, shoulders hunched and hands searching through Haru's handbag. The brunette could see the slips of money being lifted, but upon her stepping towards the thief, the person stopped. The darkened form, framed by the same light that failed to reach the face, shifted so that Haru knew she was being directly watched.

She lifted the book a little higher. "Wrong house, buddy."

Both stood, frozen, for several stinted seconds.

And then the thief sprinted for the door.

The keys had been left in the lock, but even then unlocking takes time. Haru sprinted for the person, swinging her tome in the general direction of their head. They staggered out of the way just in time, but caught the lightswitch in doing so. The hallway was filled with bright white light and both individuals stumbled blindly.

Haru blinked away the lights bobbing behind her eyes, filtering through the reversed colours to make out the intruder.

"You–"

Griffin stood with his back against the wall, still reeling from the light, but certainly able to make out Haru's shocked whisper. In the scuffle, his scarf had dropped away and his beak was all too plain to see in the new light, his avian eyes watering and squinting at the young woman. An ugly glower pulled at the edges of his beak.

"Yes, I know what I am," he growled. He turned back to the door, but Haru wasn't finished.

"You're him... You're Griffin."

The half-man froze, elongated fingers still curled around the doorknob. He glanced back to where Haru stood staring. The book slipped. It hit the carpet with a dulled thud.

"How do you know me?"

"We were looking for you," Haru whispered back.

"Who is 'we'?"

"The Bureau – the Cat Bureau. We know what's happened to you – and we know how to reverse this. We can _help_ you," Haru insisted. "We did it before–"

"Help me? There is no help that you can offer."

"Yes, there _is_. We were able to save Muta–"

Griffin's gaze sharpened so abruptly that Haru found her words drying up. "He still lives?"

"You know him?"

"You saved him?" Griffin demanded. "How?"

"We... we returned him to the Cat Kingdom..." Haru hesitantly answered. She began to wish she still had the book in hand, but she couldn't retrieve it without it being overtly obvious. It had been easier to talk when his attention wasn't so acutely focused on her. "When you return to your original form, the rest of the effects also revert. If we can just open a portal to the Bird Kingdom–"

He moved away from the door abruptly, rounding on the young brunette. "_What_?"

"We can establish a portal to your Kingdom back at the Sanctuary, so if you just come–"

"Go back? Return to being a _bird_?"

"Yes. I can take you to where the Bureau–" Her hand curled around his scarf, just firm enough to stop him, but Griffin recoiled at the contact. Anger overcame his features and he slammed her into the wall. The scarf twisted away from him and spiralled slowly down.

"Return to what I was? _Never_," he hissed.

Haru's eyes widened, and Griffin released her. Before Haru could react, he swung his free hand into the back of her head. She collapsed onto the floor, knocked across the corridor by the brute force of the hit, head spinning and blood pounding. She pushed herself unsteadily up to see the front door slam and find her apartment once again empty but for the exception of herself.

She pulled herself to her feet, using the front table for support, and picked at her ruffled purse. She groaned, leaning against the wall and table. One hand was rubbed tiredly against her eyes. "Cash stolen _and_ I've lost our only lead on Griffin... Great, just _great_." She briefly considered chasing after the half-man, but immediately discarded the idea. For one, she wasn't all sure she could tackle him in her current sleep-deprived state. Secondly, running about at this forsaken time of night would probably result in some situation that would eventually require back-up and it wasn't like she had the Bureau on speed dial.

She gingerly rubbed at the bruise that was rapidly colouring on her forehead. This would make some interesting explaining to the Bureau, she could just tell. They always worried needlessly when something like this happened.

She wandered to the balcony, irritably regarding the open doors that had let her intruder in. She moved to shut them and caught sight of a running individual fleeing across the car park. She glowered and closed the doors, bolting them firmly after her.

"I think that's quite enough excitement for one night. I'll talk to the Bureau about this tomorrow."

It still took her several hours to find sleep.

ooOoo

"And you're saying that he arrived in your very home?"

Haru sat carefully on the chest in the Bureau, miniature cup of tea balanced between her fingers as the members of the Bureau – Baron in particular – pondered the meaning of this most recent development.

"Well, yeah – but I don't think he realised it was mine. I don't think he was even aware of the Bureau," she said, recalling his confusion upon her recognition. "I was just unlucky to have left my balcony doors open."

"And you said that he had only broken in to steal?"

"It looked that way. It's probably how he's managed to survive this long in the Human World. The only problem is that sooner or later he's going to get himself noticed by the authorities and then..." She trailed off, unsure as to what the exact results would be from such a development. On one hand, they couldn't have people finding Griffin, not when he was so undeniably half-human, but on the other, Haru had a bad feeling he'd react aggressively to any sort of attempt to arrest him. Either option was enough to make her add, "We need to find him soon."

Baron nodded. "Agreed. However, we still have the problem of how..."

"Would we be able to track him down if we had something of his?"

The figurine's gaze turned from the sideboard to Haru. "Do you have such an item upon you?"

"I have this." Haru brought out the very same scarf that Griffin had dropped the night before. "It's not much, but will it do?"

"I believe it will suffice. Just place it down, Miss Haru."

She lowered it onto the table, carefully trying not to flood the little Bureau with its woollen folds. It was an unremarkable scarf; dull and grey and duller still with age. Baron approached the scarf, which dwarfed him in comparison, and when his fingers were lowered to the wool the scarf began to lose its dullness. Tiny seeds of light glittered in the wool, sparkling like lost stars, and they began to pick up the pace and quantity until the entire scarf was just one large pincushion for these shimmering lights. They became brighter and the scarf was no longer visible beneath the tiny stars, and then – quite unexpectedly – those same stars rose from the wool and hovered a few inches from the material.

Haru's eyebrows rose, but nothing else seemed about to happen. "That's... um..."

Suddenly the stars jolted from their serene drifting to fuse together. Haru jerked back, while Muta could only be heard to mutter, "Show-off." Now something akin to a crystal ball was floating in the heart of the Bureau. Its golden depths cleared to reveal the image of Griffin inside.

Quite sure there weren't about to be any more special effects – small fireworks, rounds of applause, the like – Haru leant back towards the apparition. She nudged it with one finger and the surface rippled like water. "That's so cool..."

"Thank you." Baron didn't sound as collected as usual though, and it appeared the magic hadn't been as easy as it looked as he righted his top hat.

"Can you do this for anyone?"

"No. Griffin is a special case in the fact that his half-human status makes him unique. Thus the magic is significantly more specific as to his exact location. You, Miss Haru," he said, "would be harder to locate; the magic would have difficulties separating your signature from other humans."

"Even so, we probably could get a vague location," Toto spoke up. When the rest of the Bureau looked to him, he only shrugged his feathered shoulders. "She will still have a slight taint from the Cat Kingdom, and she has spent a lot of time in the Sanctuary, which will also leave an impression on her signature. We wouldn't get anything as specific as this though," he added, nodding to the crystal ball that had prompted the discussion.

"Not that your fancy magic gives us much help," Muta grunted. He prodded the ball and the image rippled out of focus and back. "Can you zoom out or something?" Indeed, the image of Griffin was just that – an image of Griffin and not much else. It was hard to make out the details around him which seemed to be just an ordinary stone wall.

"Unfortunately not–"

Muta snorted. "This magic sucks."

Haru, however, wasn't so quick to dismiss it. She leant in. There was something... off about the wall. It was regularly pockmarked by deliberately placed holes and the entire thing seemed to be curving. If she peered closer – which was difficult to do without sticking her nose into the crystal ball – she could even make out the abandoned nests of birds resting in the aforementioned holes. There was something annoying familiar about it; she got the distinct impression she should recognise it.

"Miss Haru? Miss Haru, is everything alright?"

"The dovecot," she whispered.

"Miss Haru?"

She snapped her back to attention so suddenly that she made the rest of the Bureau quite jump out of their skins – wooden/stone or otherwise. "I know where this is!" she exclaimed, eyes wide open at the revelation. She would have jumped to her feet, but the restrictions of the building around her meant she had to resort to a shuffling crawl to the door, which was a lot less impression. "Come on – let's go before he moves!"

"Miss Haru, where are you going?" Baron appeared before the young brunette – who was staggering to her feet in the less restricted space of the courtyard – riding on Toto. Muta was still making his way out of the Bureau.

"There's an old dovecot out of town," Haru rapidly explained. "Well, it was built about fifty years ago as a sort of tourist attraction – you know the sort, making historic buildings, even if they're not actually that old – but it never attracted much attention and so it sort of ran into ruin. It's still there – among some overgrown gardens and forest – but no one goes there anymore. Or I hope not," she added, thinking of the current individual occupying it.

"Do you know the way there?"

Haru nodded. "Follow me."

ooOoo

The Bureau stood before the wall, staring at the expanse of wall crawling with creeping ivy and pockmarked with nests; in places the stones had crumbled and the surface was jagged with the uneven bricklaying. Haru tilted her head up. And then some more.

"This... would be a lot easier if I had wings," she eventually concluded.

The wall had the power to look remarkably impassable from this side, even with the rather depleted state it was falling into. Haru leant back and glanced along its length, trying to remember exactly where the entrance was meant to be. She had only visited it once in her childhood and she had the horrible feeling that, in all the years since, her memory was going to prove to be annoyingly faulty.

"Haru, there's a gate that way," Toto called, hovering at the top of the wall to get a better view. With his wings occupied with the important task of flying, he could only nod his head in the direction he meant. "Do you want us to wait with you?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. You guys should head off before we lose Griffin."

"I think I'll stay with you, just in caARGHHH–" Muta's sentence ran into a yowl as he abruptly found himself hovering, courtesy of Toto's unannounced intervention. "Put me down, ya big chicken!"

"Chickens don't fly, fleabag!"

"Miss Haru, we'll meet you on the other side," Baron called, even as his two companions sunk into their usual childish bickering. "Are you sure you don't want us to–"

"Go," Haru insisted. "I'm a big girl, Baron; I'm sure I can handle a mere gate by myself."

In Haru's mind, she had imagined the gate to be a small, barred affair, perhaps up to her waist, if that, with some sturdy bars she could use for foot support. Unfortunately reality – as so often happens – failed to match up with what had been assumed. Only now did fickle memory return to remind her that the entrance was more Pearly Gates than the farmyard type.

She stared up at the extravagant ironwork, the gates looming alongside the wall in all their grey glory. The original owner of these tourist gardens obviously had money to spare and had no qualms in throwing it about. There couldn't be any other reasonable explanation for the monstrosity that lay before her.

"I think I preferred the wall," Haru muttered, giving aforementioned gate a hard stare. She gave it a blunt shove and added, "How am I meant to get through thi–?" The gate moved at her push and she staggered with it, her question ending in a sudden withdrawal of breath. She caught her balance, but not until after she had stumbled into the garden.

She looked back to the gate to see the old chains keeping it shut had long been broken by the twin inflictions of old age and all-out vandalism. People had been coming in and out of here even after it was closed, it would appear. But, right now, she was only interested in one of those individuals – assuming he was still here, of course.

And 'here' turned out to be a wide expanse of overgrown, untended gardens fenced in by decrepit, half-hidden pathways. Roses had lost their blooms and were merely an entanglement of thorns now; the orchids had been savaged by weeds; the topiaries had mutated to the point where only a mutilated shadow of the original shape remained. The pathways were all but gone, almost grown over by the expanding plants, but just about kept in check by the occasional person trooping through. The dovecot was at the far side of the garden, so she had a way to go yet.

She ventured past fountains that had long forgotten their better days; the water had become stagnant and the green tinge of algae clung to the sides; Haru had a bad feeling that if she dripped the water, it would only make a sticky sort of 'gloop' sound. The ponds had fared better, if only barely. Some remnants of life remained at least, even if it was only the skitter of pond skaters and the plod of the infrequent intrepid amphibian.

Eventually the crowding foliage gave way to open lawn – or what would once have been open lawn, in any case. The grass had grown to knee height and was coloured with dots of weed and wild flower. The grass had even made a home in the giant chessboard; now there was only the ghost of the chequered ground, a vague impression of black and white. The hollow, plastic chess pieces – as large as Haru – lay forgotten and entangled in the grass' grip, fallen soldiers against the ever-hungry appetite of time.

Haru side-stepped the cracked black rook, its jagged top torn asunder and split almost right around the brim. A shiver crept up her spin. There was something about these fallen players that made it seem akin to a graveyard, the pieces doubling as gravemarkers and corpses all rolled into one. But now the dovecot was in sight. She reset her nerves and approached the building.

Like the gates, it had been built to look old. But the previous owner needn't have worried about that; the years untended had done the work for them. The ivy that had originally been added had taken over the entire exterior and had already pried a few bricks loose by its strangling grasp. There was the stink of birds and the musk of fox generally surrounding the place like a putrid aura. And, as Haru approached, Toto was thrown out.

She assumed thrown rather than flown, for most birds require some use of their wings to gain movement in the air, and no bird flies that quickly _backwards_. She didn't have much time to ponder this though, for the propelled crow was aiming right for her and suddenly she found she had a mouthful of feathers.

She picked herself off the ground, spitting a few stray feathers loose. "Toto! What–? Eh, wait a moment..." She made a face and gingerly took yet another feather out from between her teeth. She passed her tongue over her teeth just to make sure that was the last. "Ugh. Er, I take it you found Griffin then?"

Toto also had to pick himself up and he looked a little disgruntled at the lost plumage. "Yes. And he was none too pleased to see us."

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed." There was the sound of crashing. It didn't sound like wood smashing, so Haru wasn't inclined to worry about Baron just yet. A moment later the interior of the dovecot shone with an internal light; most probably a blinding tactic using Baron's magic, she assumed. In the dim limitations of the dovecot, that it was probably a rather effective tactic too. "Let me guess... You offered to turn him back into a bird."

"Baron felt it was only right."

There was another crash. This one sounded like metal being struck against the walls.

"I _did_ tell you that he wasn't interested in that kind of offer, right?" Haru asked idly.

"Yes. Baron still felt like we should try talking to him first."

"How far did you get?"

"As far as introductions."

Something definitely smashed this time. Haru raised one eyebrow. "I guess we should help them. After all, we didn't come all this way just to watch. Or listen, as the case is." There was a bloodcurdling yowl that sounded uncannily like someone's tail had just been stepped on. "Preferably before Muta scratches Griffin's face off," Haru added.

"I suppose so."

The interior was indeed dim and it took Haru several seconds to adjust. When her eyes had adapted, it was clear that this fight had somehow become skewed in the Bureau's favour. Baron's little light show appeared to have temporarily blinded the half-human, and so he was leaning heavily against the side with both hands covering his watering eyes. His attempt to swing out at Baron and Muta were the causes of all crashes, especially since Griffin appeared to have made a... roost, of sorts, in the dovecot. His presence had scared off all the lodging birds and so the round room was full of... stuff. Either bought with stolen money – _her_ stolen money, Haru's mind bitterly added – or just outright stolen, there were tins and bags and packages of food stuffed into the unoccupied pigeon holes and blankets strewn at the far side. Some of these tins appeared to have been desperately thrown.

Muta was across the other side of the dovecot, nursing a somewhat flattened tail, while sitting next to Baron. Baron was breathing and talking fast.

"Mr Griffin, we have no desire to hurt you, but if you would just come with us before the transformation unsteadies you–"

Griffin growled and another can was thrown.

Baron sidestepped the tin of beans.

"I think he's already flipped, Baron," Muta unhelpfully remarked. "Can I claw him now?"

"_No_, Muta."

"He's been human for far longer than Muta ever was," Haru commented. Griffin wasn't about to run anywhere; his loss of sight appeared to have rendered him unable – or unwilling – to move. "And Muta had taken leave of his senses by the time we finally found him so I doubt we're going to be able to talk any sense into Griffin this time around."

"As far as we can make out, his descent was much slower than Muta's though," Baron replied. "Remarkably so. While there will be individual differences, it shouldn't make that much of an impact–"

"Do we have to discuss this now?" Toto asked. The crow looked back to the half-human, who was beginning to regain control over his shaking instincts."Technically, we're still in combat."

"I know, but the question is, are we going to keep on trying to talk sense into him, or are we just going to haul his sorry behind to the Bird Kingdom?" Haru pointed out. "Did we even bring a portal shard to get us back to the Bureau?" There was an awkward pause. "No, of course not. That would make things _far_ too easy." Haru sighed, rubbing her temples. "I guess we could just knock him unconscious and drag him back to the Bureau... although I have no suggestions as to how we'd do that without getting arrested."

"Would you stop talking as if I'm not here?" Griffin growled.

"Right, sorry, yes." Baron turned back to the very reason they had trekked out to the gardens in the first place. "I don't suppose we could come to some sort of agreement?"

"You want to turn me into a bird. I don't," Griffin retorted. "I don't see much middle ground to agree on."

"Ah, yes, but if you don't return to being a bird then you're going to die."

"Then let me die. But let me die a human."

"Even if our moral code allowed us to let people just die, there is also the issue of the harm you will do prior that," Baron reminded him. "We are familiar with the process. You become human, you become aggressive, you have a short period of clarity, and _then_ you die. If we let you be, then there is a real and present danger that you may hurt someone."

"At this rate, it's going to be you next, shortstack." Griffin's head moved in the general direction of the cat Creation, and Haru was sure she saw his pupils focus just that little bit better. It looked like the temporary blindness was wearing off, and she had no doubt that when that happened, all hell would break loose.

"I don't get it," Muta grunted. "What's so great about being human anyway?"

Griffin's head turned towards the fat cat, and he tilted his head to one side. Haru could see the metaphorical gears turning. "You're Muta, aren't you?"

"How did you–?"

"You were human once, I remember that now. We talked, you know."

"I don't remember–"

"No, of course you don't. I doubt you remember anything from your time as a human, do you? For if you did, you might just understand me that little bit better. Why do I want to be human, you ask? Why _wouldn't_ I?" A slow smile spread across Griffin's face. "Even as a bird, I was smart – I was a scientist, you know, if you can even call it that – but now I'm human... now everything is so much more _clearer_. All those nitty-gritty pieces of throwback instinct are gone and the... the _imagination_ of the human mind! You cannot even envision the restriction of the animal mind; so confined with what _is_ and what _was_ that it doesn't even consider what _might_."

"But now those instincts are coming back," Baron said quietly. "And they're not coming back together the same way that they once were, are they? They're jumbled. They don't quite fit anymore, so they've changed. They've adapted to the human mind. Because it's not just imagination that your mind feels keener anymore, is it? The human mind is much more hot-headed. All your emotions – fear, hatred, anger – are stronger too. And when they mix with your mingling instincts... well..." Baron's expression softened, shifting into something resembling sympathy. "It drives you mad."

"You can stay human – if you want it enough," insisted Griffin. "You can learn to hold back the instincts–"

"But not forever."

"I can if I'm strong enough!"

Haru could see the anger building up in the man – if he could be called that – and decided to intercede to change conversation tracks. They needed as much information as possible before he recovered from his blindness, and she had a feeling that prompting rage would only make him hastier to lash out. "You were once a bird, Griffin. What changed that?"

He turned his gaze to her, and this time his eyes were definitely beginning to come back into focus. In the back of her mind, she wondered whether he could already vaguely see her and was only waiting for his sight to sufficiently sharpen before he attacked. They were rapidly running out of questioning time.

"Yes, I was an eagle once, but that changed when I was stolen away. The Doctor... he took animals from the different kingdoms and experimented on them. I was on patrol when we were taken. I took to the transformation best, but I still wasn't fully human. I am still scarred by the shadow of what I once was. Even my hands aren't human. Look."

Haru leant in as he peeled his right glove off. His skin was roughened with the faint patterning of feathers while his fingers only now looked too long to be true. Haru lowered her hand beside his, seeing just how out of proportion they were. They were awkward – cumbersome – at that length; his fingers got in each others' way, catching angular nail against angular nail with a hollow clacking sound.

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Griffin's hand shot up and suddenly those disfigured fingers were around her neck. She was shoved against a wall and Griffin's eyes directly met hers. As she scraped her hands uselessly against his, she briefly pondered on the fact that this seemed to keep on happening and she still hadn't found a way to effectively escape from these frequent _grabbed-by-the-neck_ attacks.

"We're just trying to help!" she rasped.

"I really don't need your help. And I would suggest, Baron, that you don't do anything rash," Griffin idly added, not even looking away from Haru. "You might be able make me release Miss Haru, but probably not before I do some serious damage. So you better not repeat your light show, for I'm sure I can strangle her even when blind." There was a beat. "Just out of curiosity, how easy do you think it is to crush the human windpipe?"

"Not easy enough to do before I permanently kick your voice into soprano," Haru snarled. "What exactly did you expect this to achieve anyway?"

"I wasn't really thinking that far ahead. I just–"

"Followed your instincts?" Haru offered.

"Unless you want that expression to be your death grin, I'd suggest you wipe that smirk off your face. But I guess you were right on one part; we have reached a stalemate–"

"I am right occasionally, you know–"

"–which will be broken, along with your neck, when I finally snap," Griffin continued coolly. "I'm holding back the worst of the anger, but you saw Muta. Even your friend is unable to hold back the rage against you. Against everyone. We just can't help it."

Haru's right hand had given up trying to pry Griffin's grip off and was now feeling its way along the wall behind her. Even at this height, it was pockmarked with pigeon holes, and a few of these Griffin had used for storage. Her fingers curled around a jar.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say something along those lines."

She snatched the glass jar forward and brought it down on Griffin's arm. Glass rained down in crystal shards edged with ruby red blood. An inhuman snarl escaped from Griffin and his grip spasmed loose. Haru ducked away and rejoined the Bureau.

"Haru! Are you okay?"

She rubbed her throat gingerly. "Yeah, Baron. Just tender."

"Gee, Chicky, you get yourself into all the worst situations."

"I know, but we're not out of this one yet." She looked back to Griffin, who was shaking off the loose glass from his arm, specks of blood flying off with them. She hadn't hit anything major, but the glass had still drawn blood – and quite a lot of it. Not enough to kill him – this, she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed – but quite enough to enrage him. He turned two ire-filled eyes to her. "Run?" she tentatively offered to the Bureau.

"Run," Baron agreed.

Within a moment, the feline Creation had leapt onto Toto, Haru had started sprinting, and Muta was left glowering at their fleeing forms. "Oh, sure, forget the small one, why don't you? It's not like I've got the shortest legs or anything."

"Stop moaning, Muta!" Haru shouted back. By this point, Muta was finally running and Griffin was already out of the dovecot door and gaining speed on them. "You can outrun me any day!"

"Although how he does at his girth is anyone's guess," Toto sniggered.

"I heard that, Birdbrain!"

"Good!"

Haru leapt over the remains of the giant chess game, shamelessly kicking a few loose as she went. She purposely kicked the rook back, hoping to aim for the rapidly nearing Griffin. It went a grand total of two feet. Griffin sneered.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Oh, you don't even want to see what I can do!" Haru bluffed. She was beginning to hope Baron had some coherent plan in working order, although past incidents had taught her not to hold her breath. While he usually thought of a plan, it was also usually on a last, spur-of-the-moment timing, and she wasn't sure how close they could cut it today. She had a bad feeling that Griffin had recently lost it entirely and had reverted utterly and completely to the second stage. Violence.

In which case, she should probably just keep running.

Despite this, she suddenly found her way blocked. Or, to be more precise, abruptly narrowed. Somewhere along the line, they had gone the wrong way and now they were standing before what looked like the entrance to a maze. Without thinking – mostly because thinking would mean pausing and pausing would mean Griffin – she entered.

Toto – with Baron – flew overhead, but Muta was forced to follow Haru's lead. Suddenly the whole world was a great deal more claustrophobic. The maze was formed by shrubbery hedges which, in the years gone by, had become feral and took up more of the path than what was left of the actual path. Haru's heart began to quicken as the branches crowded closer and the world closed yet further in.

"Left, Haru!" Baron shouted from above. "Take your next left!"

Haru swerved. The turning was barely visible anymore, but there was just enough of a gap to squeeze through. She ignored the scratches and kept running. To her relief, Muta was still very definitely sprinting behind her. Not so much to her relief, so was Griffin.

"Baron, please tell me you've got a plan!"

"I'm working on it!"

"What are you running from?" Griffin's words mockingly chased her. They sent a chill down her back. "You know you can't keep this up forever! Sooner or later you'll have to stop and when you do..."

Haru ran straight into what appeared to be a dead end. "Baron!"

"Keep on going!" Baron insisted. "It's not blocked, just overgrown – there's a path if only you find it! If you get through, Griffin won't be able to follow!"

Haru came to the far end and tried to pry the hedges apart. She could hear Griffin coming up behind her and she quickened her search. Her fingers fell through a gap where the two hedges didn't link, and began to push them aside. She followed her hands, digging her way through the hedges; below her, Muta pushed his way through. It wasn't so dense lower down, but at her height the branches had spread their reach and weren't too ready to give up their space. Halfway through, she found the branches catching her clothing.

"I... I think I'm stuck!" She heaved against the hedges' holds, but everything she did only entangled her further, her hair now snaring and the twigs catching on her skin. Her right hand was focused on keeping the branches away from her face, but her other couldn't carve her way through alone. The branches pressed down from every angle, and Haru's breath began to quicken. Her claustrophobia began to kick in with a cold vengeance. She tried to call out to Baron, but her lungs were spasming and she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"What have we here?"

Through the web of foliage, she could see Griffin's face peer her way. Instantly her gasping gave way to still, shallow breaths. An instinct – the same instinct of small mammals or rodent – overtook the previous fear and focused solely on the predator only feet away. And, like many small mammals, she found herself frozen.

"Well, well, well, looks like Miss Haru has run herself into a rut. And you were doing so well up to then..." He neared the hedge and his slender hands began to pry the foliage apart. Haru watched the approaching man with slow-dawning, heavy-headed and dulled fear.

Suddenly he reared back, emitting a pained howl. Muta ran back through the hedge, leaving only three clawmarks on the half-human's lower leg. Talons curled around Haru's sleeve and Toto dragged her forcefully from the hedge. The branches retaliated at the movement, snapping and scraping at her skin and only when she was out of it did she realise she was bleeding across both arms. Her gasping was back, verging again on hyperventilation, and she slumped against another hedge.

"Haru? Haru! Are you okay?"

She was more than just a little embarrassed to feel the warm trail of tears running down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them away, but her head and hand were both shaking too hard from the ragged gasping. She sank to the ground and nodded instead, eyes fluttering shut. "F-fine, Baron."

"You're obviously not. Did Griffin get you?"

She shook her head. "I just... I don't like small spaces," she admitted. "I panic."

Something soft wiped at her face. She opened her eyes to see Baron cleaning away the tears with a tiny white handkerchief. She laughed gently at the miniature gentleman's actions. "Thanks, Baron."

"Don't mention it, Haru."

The brunette glanced back to the overgrown hedge she had barely squeezed through. Sounds of Griffin had faded; apparently Baron had been right in his inability to follow her through there. She gulped back the last of her terror and attempted to pull herself back together. To a degree, she succeeded. "We should get going," she shakily remarked. "We still have Griffin to deal with."

"We will deal with him, Haru," Baron stiffly informed her. "You are in no such state to–"

"Yeah, I know." Haru pushed herself back to her feet regardless. "But when has that ever stopped me?"

"We don't really have time to argue over this," Toto reminded Baron before he could contend Haru's claim. "She right; we should get back to finding Griffin before he finds someone else."

Baron sighed and simply nodded his defeat. "Agreed. But Miss Haru, you must promise me you'll be careful."

"You always say that," Muta gruffly noted. "And it never makes any difference."

"Hey, I am careful," Haru defended. She saw the apologetic disbelief in her comrades' faces. "Well," she gingerly amended, "I try." After a dubious beat, she added, "Hey, didn't you say we needed to be going? Come on, let's go before we lose him." She paused and looked about. "Any idea which way he went?"

Toto pointed a dark wing to the tower that centred the maze. "I think I saw him going that way."

Haru's shoulders sagged. "Of course."

ooOoo

The tower was a white-marbled affair or, at least, it had once attempted to be. Time had peeled away the paint and eroded the facade of smooth stone until only a crumbling, cobbling spiral creation remained. Haru stared up at the ivory monstrosity, a sinking feeling growing heavy in her stomach. And, to top it all, it was beginning to rain.

She blinked away the raindrops. "How appropriate," she muttered.

"Haru? Are you quite alright?" The rest of the Bureau had already begun their ascent of the entrance steps. The doorway to the maze's centrepiece was raised by five long, marble steps that had been worn away by weather and past footfalls, and it was before the doorway that Toto hovered.

Haru forced a smile to the cat Creation on Toto. "Sure." She joined them and pushed the door open. "Why wouldn't I be?" A few more droplets of rain managed to hit her before she receded into the shelter of the tower. "It's just like the Cat Kingdom all over again. You know, except for the size thing." Not that having a human-sized Baron would be a bad thing right about now. It would certainly help with the Griffin incident. And a human-sized Muta could just sit on the half-human.

She bit back a smile at that thought and glanced up at her new surroundings. It wasn't quite the endless spiral of the Cat Kingdom tower, but age and slow ruin was making the path ahead of them quite difficult enough. The twisting stairway was dimly lit by slitted windows; at regular intervals hollow lights that had lost the will to shine swung lifelessly, their glass light bulbs catching the sunlight at irregular moments.

"Oi, Birdbrain. You sure he's here?"

"Yes."

Muta groaned. "That means we're going up those stairs, doesn't it?" He looked to Haru. "Any chance of a lift, Chicky?"

The brunette raised both eyebrows. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Should've known it'd be too much for a fatso like you."

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?"

"Let's see what you've got."

The bickering duo set off up the stairway and, since Baron was with Toto, that left Haru standing motionless at the bottom. She sighed and started after them. "One of these days old age is going to catch up with that cat..."

By the time she had caught up with the rest of the crew, the top was considerably closer. Unsurprisingly, they had all slowed down by that point, but as the peak of the tower drew nearer, Haru also sensed general cautiousness rising in all individuals. She reminded herself that this wasn't just a battle; Griffin had information on how to reach the other world and, as far as they knew, he was their only possible lead.

It didn't make her feel any better about the whole thing.

The Bureau stopped at the door. Like the rest of the building, it was a whitewashed thing, but decay had revealed spots of suffering wood beneath the paint. It stood on hinges that sagged so that it no longer rested comfortably in its own doorway. Haru looked to Baron, who nodded, and then gently pushed the door open with the tips of her fingers.

It swung outward onto the roof of the tower. A jagged castle-styled wall surrounded the circular walkway and was the only thing stopping someone from slipping over the edge and the ground beneath them was more greying wood. And it was definitely raining.

Through the strengthening sleet, a shadow stood at the rising and dipping wall. Any pretence at hiding what he was had been dropped and the beak was unhindered by scarf or coat collar.

"The anger, it comes and goes."

Griffin didn't turn around, but his comment more than indicated that he knew of the newcomers. "It cannot be controlled. Once you give in to it, the descent only becomes faster until, one day, you never snap out of the ire."

Haru took a half step forward. "Griffin, we can help you, if only you'll–"

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you." His voice had taken on a gravelly quality to it. "The same goes for you too, Baron. I can stay in control for now, but the moment I feel threatened," he said and he turned his eagle eyes to the Bureau; something in those depths was stirring, "I cannot promise that will remain."

"We have no desire to harm you," Baron assured.

"We just want to know what made you this way," Toto added.

"I told you," Griffin rasped. Something was definitely changing in his voice, and Haru had already decided she didn't like it. "In the world I was taken to, there was a man we called the Doctor. He changed us; there is nothing more to tell."

"How do we get to his world?" Baron asked.

Griffin only smiled grimly.

The rain was coming down in buckets now, but even through the curtain of water Griffin's bleak face could be made out. And something was flickering in his eerie eyes. Something dangerous. "Enough talking for one day. I am leaving." He started forward, but quickly found his way to the door blocked by Haru. "It wasn't a request," he dully informed her.

"And we're not done talking," she retorted.

"I am."

His punch came out of nowhere, but for once Haru sensed it before it came. She ducked and lashed out with an elbow of her own. She sidestepped him with a relative air of smugness. "You were saying?"

Griffin was rubbing his shoulder. Haru doubted that there was any real injury and that it was more the surprise and hurt pride that he was nursing than any lasting bruise. If it was possible, a sneer curved his beak. "You just couldn't keep your nose out of other people's business, could you? Not you, not that stupid maid–"

Haru glowered back. "Careful. That's my best friend you're talking about."

Griffin only sneered again. "That would explain it."

"Griffin, we could stop others from suffering the same fate as you," Baron said, his smooth voice adding a new urgency to the situation. "If we know how to reach this world, we can help."

A twisted smirk slipped onto the half-human's face. "I once would have cared, but you know what? I just... can't find myself to bother anymore."

He swung a hit and this time Haru wasn't quick enough. She staggered back and smacked against the low wall, just catching her balance to prevent herself toppling back. Chaos broke loose as Toto and Baron went for Griffin, who only sidestepped their attack, moving out of the way before Muta could add his claws to the mixture. Something had snapped. Haru wasn't sure whether it had only just happened or whether it had gone a long time back and he'd only played the part of partial sanity up to now, but it was at this point that any and all pretence was dropped.

Toto went in for another attack, but this time Griffin was prepared and all his instincts were honed. His gloved hand caught the bird in mid-flight and sent him tumbling, whereupon the crow landed awkwardly on the floor, feathers and wings flapping everywhere. Muta was brutally kicked away, and then Griffin's gaze turned to Haru.

The earlier hit had left her disorientated, but even so she saw his eyes focus on her. Somewhere in her head she registered this and spun away for his next attack. Taloned hands whistled the air before her face. She reacted with a clumsy kick that barely grazed his leg. Another punch passed her by and she lashed out with the same kick as before. Only, this time, it found its target.

Griffin was knocked back against the low wall, and for a moment he almost seemed frozen in that precarious position. And then time and gravity kicked back in and he was moving again. Moving backwards. Moving downwards.

There was a dull thud.

Haru could only stare at the spot where her opponent had been moments before and something sickening was resting in her stomach. She sank – or dropped – to the ground, her legs giving way and her knees hitting against the floor.

A small hand rested against her own. Haru looked into emerald green eyes.

"Miss Haru, are you okay?"

"I didn't mean to kill him," she whispered.

"Baron, I think he's still alive!" Toto called. He was perched on the wall, feathers still ruffled from the earlier fall, but apparently functioning. "We need to go to him."

Baron looked reluctant to leave Haru, but both of them could hear the urgency in Toto's voice. Griffin had to be on the verge of death and they only had seconds before their only lead on the Doctor's world was gone forever. Baron nodded in defeat and consolingly patted Haru's hand. "Go inside," he instructed. "Get yourself warm." He glanced to the rain about them and added in a humourless chuckle, "And dry."

"_Baron_!"

"Coming!"

ooOoo

The anger had faded from Griffin by the time the two Creations reached him, but so was the fire of life. His breath was shallow, but left shudders of pain throughout the half-human's body. Rolling eyes finally focused on the two individuals and his beak, after much slow mouthing, whispered, "Sorry."

"It drives every creature mad," Baron reasoned softly. "Just some it affects differently."

Toto coughed pointedly from behind.

Baron got the hint. "Please, if you could give us any indication of how to find this other world before others suffer the same fate, if we could know how to reach this place..."

Griffin blinked, and Baron got the distinct impression that this was the ex-eagle straining to show he understood. His beak moved, but his breath was dwindling and his diaphragm was struggling to give the necessary air to make words. Only a rasping death-rattle forced its way out.

"This is useless," Toto muttered to Baron, too quietly for the individual on death's door to hear. "He's too far gone."

Baron's head gave an almost imperceptible shake. "Wait."

Griffin's hand reached out towards Baron, and the Creation – after a second's hesitation – moved his own into Griffin's range. The half-human hooked his thumb around Baron's lower wrist – which was dwarfed by the larger – and tapped his index and middle finger on the top of the cat's wrist. His eyes bore into Baron's as he repeated the action, willing him to see whatever it was that made this of importance.

Baron could only look hopelessly at the hand. "I don't understand," he whispered. He lifted his gaze and stared into empty eyes.

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by: **_**The Invisible Man. **_**Written by H. G. Wells.**

**References:**

_**Macbeth**_**. Written by William Shakespeare. **

**NB: This is NOT a **_**Doctor Who**_** twist. I will take pity on you and put that out there before you throw any more of your DW theories out there. That Doctor is not this Doctor, but he's not entirely an OC either; he is based off a character from literature and kudos if you can guess which. **

**ooOoo**

**Next Story: **_**The World of the Doctor**_**.**

**Teaser: **_**Haru's eyes flew open and a shiver down her back gave her the distinct feeling she was being watched. / Muta stood in the rapidly darkening forest, more than just a little aware that he'd managed to lose the rest of the Bureau. / Baron looked into a pair of narrowed, serpentine eyes. His stomach sank. What a time to drop his cane. / **_

"_**Soon you will see my way."**_


End file.
